Catalyst
by XxRagnarokxX88
Summary: With the apperance of the new girl, the beautiful bookworm Mayumi Yamagishi, Shinji suddenly finds the will to fight and acts as her shield, but he'll soon find out even shields splinter. []Chapter 10[]
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, Studio Gainax animation does, meaning I do not gain any financial benefits from the creation of this fan fiction.

This story is about Shinji Ikari and Mayumi Yamagishi. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

Shinji Ikari struggled to get up this particular morning. While he was never the one to be optimistic about a new day, he had a new reason to struggle against staying in the warm comfort of his sheets or making breakfast for himself and his commanding officer, Misato Katsuragi. His reason being the fatigue he was currently experiencing after his encounter with the monstrous purple Evangelion.

"Ugh..," he began to slowly stir from his stupor. Gradually, he laid on his back with his right arm draped on his sweat soaked forehead and stared at the empty ceiling. "Another unfamiliar ceiling..." he mumbled as he got up and began unpacking his single duffle bag, something he had not bothered to do in his first day in Ms. Katsuragi's apartment. The single duffle bag served as yet another sad reminder of what little he actually had in his short existence. Among the contents of the bag were nothing more than essential; a few pair of slacks, boxers and other necessities. He frown at this, but simply shrugged it off as he realized that it's the same as always.

He rubbed his eyes and made his way to the hallway then stopped. In his sleepy haze, he forgot where the bathroom was and decided to choose at random, opening the first door he saw to the left, only to find a snoring purple haired beauty sprawled out on her equally disarrayed futon. He blushed slightly and closed the door before he saw anymore, he felt staring would only lead to him disturbing her privacy even further. After closing the door, he found the right door and quickly began what he thought would become a routine. Looking at clock that was plugged near the sink, he saw how early it really was and decided to turn his shower into a bath to 'clear his mind and soul', as his guardian had put it. After all, he had a lot to think about.

Letting the warm water consume him up to mid-chest, he turned off the faucet and let his thoughts drift to the events prior to this new, different day.

_"My father never needed me... but now he's built a robot that needs me?" he mused angrily. "Some joke.. Right. It doesn't matter, I'm not afraid to die! And I won't let him call me a coward! Some low life who abandoned me! Coward!" _

_Misato only stared at the shy boy that she assumed him to be change suddenly and abruptly into a furious young man. She twitched at this and brushed it off as nervousness at seeing an untrained pilot taking control of the Evangelion, when she was asked what was bothering her by her long time friend, Ritsuko Akagi._

_"Cooling-down cycle complete! All internal cage systems in docking position!"_

_"Pilot has reached the cockpit position within the entry plug!" Shinji only waited impatiently as he felt a sudden movement inside of the cylinder object he was told to get into. "Roger, inserting entry plug!"_

_'I'll prove to him I'm no coward,' he thought angrily as a female voice rose above the other technicians. _

_"Plug lock-in procedure completed! Initiating First Level Interface!"_

_He sighed as the anger subsided a bit. _

_"Flooding entry plug!"_

_To his dread, he looked down to see transparent orange-yellow water fill the narrow chamber of the entry plug. "W-Wha- What's going on?" he shouted as the liquid consumed his legs and showed no sign of ending there._

_"Don't be alarmed," shouted another female voice. "Once your lungs are saturated with the LCL, you'll be able to undergo direct oxygen exchange!" _

_"Glag! I'm going to drown!" the young teenager yelled as the fluid now reached his neck and bordered his chin._

_"Calm down, Shinji!" he was too panicked to recognize the voice of the woman who had just earlier saved him from being crushed by the foot of some giant.. monster! "Your a boy aren't you! Deal with it!"_

_Not being able to hold his breath any longer as the fluid completely covered what now appeared to be his molybdenum and lithium cylinder coffin, he breathed in the transparent liquid with a tired 'glug'. Too busy to mentally note his knowledge of metals, he let go and continued to breathe in the liquid with cautious, shallow sighs. He felt nauseous, but not liberated of his short and now interesting life. 'Damnit! At this rate, I'll be dead before I even fight the damn monster!' he mentally mumbled._

_Once again the first, softer toned, but still commanding female voice returned, "Main power connected! All Circuits fully functional! Initiating power-up sequence!" Shinji's vision blurred and soon the cylinder began to change into shapes and colors as unrecognizable sounds started to engulf his mind. "A10 neural synapses operating within normal limits! First Contact, all clear! Opening reciprocal circuits!" Suddenly he felt tall.. very tall. He looked around and found himself looking through the eyes of what the blonde scientist called, 'Evangelion Unit-01'._

_"This is incredible," Dr. Akagi muttered, "How can his synch-rate be at 45.7 percent? Maya, what are the chances of synch errors?"_

_"Synch errors are within 0.3 percent!" the young technician seemed to be shocked as well, "He's amazing!" Shinji who only managed to catch the last part of the young woman's remark blushed, but quickly recovered as the sensation of being inside of the large humanoid robot overtook him again. He could feel power of the behemoth, suddenly feeling he could prove his father wrong._

_"Evangelion Unit-01! Prepare to launch!" Shinji could clearly hear Ms. Katsuragi's order and wondered what he should do, until he saw the giant cages around the Eva move. "Releasing primary lock-bolt!"_

_"Released confirmed! Releasing umbilical bridge!" Shinji felt his shoulder's slump for some reason, as the catwalk in-front of him began to move. He didn't know if he was going crazy or not. "Releasing primary and secondary restraints!" He felt too many things going on around him and he began to feel dizzy, tasting the sensation of vertigo. He called out for the only person who he could remember. "Ms. Katsuragi?"_

_She seemed a bit upset as she stopped calling orders and Ritsuko took over. "What is it, Shinji?"_

_"I feel... weird." Suddenly a small video monitor appeared out of nowhere. He pulled back slightly at this, and the woman standing next to her began to speak. "You are synchronized with your Eva, depending on the synchronization rate, you feel what it feels. Don't worry, you'll be fine." Shinji took this in and though silently. 'I feel what it feels? Those that include the damage I'll take during battle?'_

_His musing were cut short as he suddenly felt a stop in movement. Looking around, he found himself against a wall with rows of platforms that looked like giant elevators. 'Great.'_

_"Launch path cleared, all green! Launch preparations are complete." Misato stared at the fourteen year old's face. ".. Roger."_

_"Commander Ikari." Shinji shuddered as he heard his father's reply to Misato, answering an unspoken question._

_"Proceed. If we fail to defeat the angels, humanity has no future."_

_"LAUNCH!"_

_Shinji suddenly braced in his seat as several G-forces were applied to his lean frame. After finally reaching a stop, he opened one eye and scanned his environment, and gasped. He saw the city he had just arrived to, Tokyo 3, underneath his gaze. He had no idea of the true size of the Eva, but he gained a glimpse as the few buildings that did not retract underground, looked like mere, fragile obstacles. His awe was short-lived as he saw the same monster than nearly killed him only minutes after he arrived to strange new city. The large, indistinguishable 'angel' stood before him, it's face, which looked like a flat mask resembling a bird's head, was placed where in it's chest area. It's dark umber skin stretched around, but not over, it's protruding rib cage. As Shinji fearfully inspecting his opponent, it appeared like it had it's shoulders, ribs, and leg bones as armor over it's mushy flesh._

_"This is it, Shinji!" _

_"Ms.Ugh... Right." He stumbled with words as his confidence took a nosedive. "Releasing final safety locks!" Shinji felt his shoulders relax as the shoulder restraints let go of his Eva. "Evangelion Unit-01, Lift off!"_

_'Good luck, Shinji' Misato wished slightly, clutching her pendant tightly._

_"Shinji! Just try walking!"_

_"U-uh.. how do I do that?" he clutched the twin controls nervously waiting for an answer as the 'angel' in front of him started at him with it's dark and menacing eye sockets. "Just concentrate! Focus your conscious thoughts on the concept of walking!"_

_"W-walk..," he grabbed the controls feebly. 'Walk..!' He soon felt his will clumsily done as the giant Eva began to move forward. "Whoa!" he yelped out as the Eva continued to move forward, almost by it's own will._

_Meanwhile, the whole crew watched from the enormous command center, awing as the inexperienced child willed the monstrous biomechanical robot forward. Ritsuko's and Misato's comments did little to help him, though._

_"He-- He actually did it!" beamed Ritsuko._

_"He's up and at 'em!" Misato nearly squealing in delight._

_"Stop, okay?" he Eva did not follow it's order. "St-- Sto-. Damnit! Fine!" Unaware that anger finally overtook him, he came to a decision. "Charge!" This order was taken, as he clutched the dual controls tightly, and the huge robot ran forward; it's momentum causing slight tremors in the city streets. The angel suddenly took notice of it's now obvious adversary._

_"Oh, no! Shinji, wait!" Misato screamed as she say his frantic actions._

_"YAAAAAAAAA," His eyes were wide with almost tangible fury. "AAHHHHH!" Not knowing how to really attack, he blindly willed his arms to cross and attempted to tackle the angel to the ground. His eyes shut with fear, and he missed the angel by meters. He opened his eyes as he did not feel the expected impact, and saw only buildings blurring by. "Ah?"_

_"Shinji, watch out!" her warning did little, as she saw Unit-01 crash into the building in front of it seconds later._

_Shinji felt himself fall and, even though he was inside of the giant machine, he felt the pain as if he himself fell on the concrete below._

_The softer female voice began to yell, "Get up! It's got you cornered!" Shinji simply looked up in fear as he saw a clawed, tripod hand took his machine's face in it's grasp. He jerked forward as he felt a pressure squeezing his face; an agonizing flash of pain overtaking his senses. "Aargh!"_

_He felt himself lifted up in the air, but with his eyes closed from both fear and pain, he could only trust his other four senses. Misato gasped as he saw Unit-01, no more importantly, Shinji lifted several hundred feet off the ground. Her fears only accumulated as her gaze rested on the angels arms as the both had extended dagger-like ends. She started sweating, feeling her heart-race. "Shinji!" she squeaked out loudly, "Get the hell out of there!" She received no response, and everyone at the command center stared helplessly as the angel used it's other arm to grab Unit-01's left arm._

_Shinji opened and closed one of his eyes in grimace as he felt his left arm starting to throb and shake. "What the he-- AAAAAGGGHHH!" he screamed as his Eva's arm snapped out of place with a sickening 'crunch'. He held out his arm as if it did not belong anymore. _

_"Please calm down Shinji!" urged someone he couldn't recognize at the moment, "it's not your arm! Look at it Shinji, It's not your arm!" He could only concentrate on the pain. With an appalling sound, the Eva's arm was crushed under the power of the Angel's claw._

_"Dislocation, left elbow! Rupture, pronator teres! Severing circuit below Glenoid Fossa and rerouting connections!" someone yelled. Shinji only held his arm and continued screaming at the intense pain._

_"How is this happening..?" Ritsuko yelled. "The synchronization frequencies... they're in hyper-fluctuation?"_

_Shinji stared in front of him as a light shone brightly. Was death finally, here? "Damn it! Shinji, Get out of the way!" Misato screamed. All he could do was hold his right hand feebly in front of him as the light from the angel's hand thrusted forward. The blades on the back of the angel's elbows retracted and thrusted forward, making contact with the single-horned head of Unit-01._

_"The Cranial area is going into paralysis!"_

_"YAAAAAAGGGHHH," he screamed as he clutched the right side of his head. With a second and final blow, the head crack and Eva-Unit 01 was driven backwards as it sailed impossibly across and over the streets of Tokyo 3. It landed directly into the side of a large building, larger that itself, raining debris over the street under it. The Eva slumped lifelessly, letting it's crushed arm land on the adjacent building. The head of Unit-01 let out a spray of aubergine blood onto the streets below it's inert legs, drenching the ruins of Tokyo-3._

_Misato's eyes went wide and her face paled at the sight of the defeated Unit-01. _

_"Degree of cranial damage unknown!"_

_"Cutting power to control neurons! Reversing synchro-graphs!.. P-Pulse is surging back!" Ritsuko clutched the seat of her underling. "Pull the circuits manually! Just stop that backflow!" Somehow she knew it wouldn't. "Negative," Maya announced, "it's refusing all inputs!"_

_"What about Shinj?" Misato finally catching her breath._

_"Monitors not responding-- we can't tell if he's alive of dead!" yelled a bespectacled man._

_Maya's breath caught in her throat, "Unit-01 is completely silent!"_

_Realizing there was no chance for victory, Misato changed her priorities. "All right, I'm suspending all original orders! Pilot safety is now our only priority! Force ejection of the entry plug!"_

_"There's no manual override! We've lost all contact with the Eva!" shrieked Maya._

_"Shinji...!" _

--

Tears mixed slowly with the bathtub water. 'She's not a bad person, but happy memories never find my in the bath.. or anywhere for that matter', Shinji shifted himself slowly, letting himself go slightly deeper in the water, letting the tears mix with the warm liquid, denying their existence.

"What was I thinking?" he asked himself. "Why did I even try and fight..?"

--

_Shinji's eyes slowly opened taking his environment in, or lack of in this case._

_'.. so warm..' He found himself floating in an endless nothingness. '... so.. I'm dead aren't I?' He smiled lightly and let himself relax. 'Huh.. Just as I thought-- death isn't a big deal, after all..'_

_He was interrupted as a light began to enclose the space between himself and it's source. It soon took shape, as a woman with an undistinguishable face and long hair. It's prescence was nostalgic, comforting even. Could it be?_

_'... Mother?'_

_He felt himself smile, but it soon faded as the image twisted into that of a bio-mechanical human, gently touching his face._

_'AIIIEEEE' he yelled as it's arms encircled him. It's bleeding right eye spilling it's contents over his shirt._

_'No, no! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die yet! Help! Father! MOTHER!'_

--

Shinji held himself shuddering as the undesirable memory rose into consciousness.

"What was that thing? That warm... lost thing..."

He held his left arm up in front of him, moving it and inspecting it as if it could disappear from existence at any given moment. How strange that he was still alive to even question whether he still was alive.

--

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR"_

_It was inhuman battle cry that caused everyone to look up at the main hologram window suspended in mid air. There was a simultaneous intake of air in the subterranean command center. Mixed reactions appeared on the many people in command as the horrific image was brought to screen. Unit-01 broke it's frontal jaw restraints as another dreadful cry escaped it's 'mouth'._

_"It's Unit-01! She's reactivated!" gasped Ritsuko, "She's ripped out her own frontal shut-off joint!" Panic was now vivid in her voice. "But the synchro-graph is still in the negative zone! She can't be moving.. unless.. She's Out of Control!"_

_Unit-01 rushed in an atrocious rage, it's arms wide apart, ready to shred whatever monstrosity stood in it's narrow path. With a powerful forward step, it leapt into the air with full intent of landing on the skull/chest of the angel, only to avoid a blinding flash coming from right claw forcing her to evade and land it's two feet on the face of the beast, cracking it's mask-like head._

_The angel twisted it's body to the right, allowing an open shot to the narrow abdomen of Unit-01. The Eva took the brunt of the damage in stride and leaps off the angel's cracked face, landing on all fours. Expecting the angel to retaliate in this short opening, the Eva swerved out of the way of the angel's claw. Skidding to halt, the Eva almost seemed to enjoy the angel's attempt at bringing it down._

_"SHINJI? Is he controlling the Eva?" the immediate response did little to calm her down. "No! That's impossible! The way he's fighting-- He can't be at this level of piloting!"_

_Shinji's father, the commander of NERV, smiled behind his interlaced fingers and deep orange glasses. "Heh..."_

_The Eva ran with all it's ferocity, it's finger's clawing at the air and arms raise at it's sides apart from it's body, almost trembling with the anticipation of clawing at fresh flesh. The angel stood still and slumped forward as an orange hexagonal wall formed in front of it. The Eva crashed into it gracelessly._

_"An AT Field?" Misato could only stare as the Eva clawed at the wall that separated it from it's victim. "So the angel's have them, too?"_

_Ritsuko cut in, unable to hid the fear in her voice any longer. "As long as the angel generates the field, the Eva can't approach it!"_

_All hopes of victory wavered as the Eva clawed fruitlessly. "What's happening!" Misato could only speculate as the purple and green Eva raised it's broken arm in front of it's face, and with a savage cry, bared it's teeth as it's left arm healed almost instantaneously._

_"Left wrist is restored!" _

_"What! Just like that!"_

_"Unit-01 is also deploying an AT Field" Maya yelled, barely keeping up with the monitors in front of her. "It's neutralizing the angel's phase variance!"_

_The Eva clawed into the center of the orange obstruction and brutally tore the AT Field. "My god! The Eva has forced open the angel's AT Field!" The angel's eye sockets flash and released a stream light that launched directly at the purple monster, only to be deflected as the Eva crossed it's arm and pushed savagely against it's attack. The angel was now allowed the same treatment it was given before as it was knocked off it's clawed feet and sailed backwards onto a building. The Eva jumped onto several building before leaping as far as it could into the cold night sky, leaving it's silhouette on the streets. _

_The angel looked up, watching the Eva bend it's legs and bringing down it's knees onto the red center in it's chest, causing an audible crack in the night air. The Eva looked over it's prey slowly and finally decided the angel's demise. It took hold of the rib cage surrounding the red core and pulled on it, causing purple blood to pour out of it's new wound. Grabbing the rib, the Eva growled deeply and started piercing the red orb._

_The angel's eyes lit up and it's claws suddenly surrounded the Eva and held it in position as it's core began to shine. "Self-Destruct!" The explosion was observed in silence as the angel exploded, Eva Unit-01 taking the full brunt of the attack. Everyone in the command center shielded their eyes as the brightness overcame them, expecting Unit-01 to be in shambles. The purple Eva slowly walked away from the wreckage, it's armor cracking lightly around it's upper-half, and abruptly stopped. The commander allowed himself a small grin._

_It was Maya who first regained awareness, her softer toned voice speaking quite audibly in the silence of the Command Center, "L-life signs confirmed for both Unit-01 and Pilot! Dispatching retrieval Units! Contacting emergency crews-- "_

--

And so he began his new morning ritual, leaving the bathroom once all matters were attended to, and quickly changing into his black slacks and white shirt, donning his favorite blue undershirt as well. He sighed; he forgot to ask Ms. Katsuragi what he would be doing that day. Of course he wasn't exactly looking forward to school, but what else was he suppose to do now?

"I wonder if she's going to make me get in that giant robot again..? Eva..." Unconsciously, he placed his hand over right eye, confirming that it's still there. His fingertips brushed against a band aid over his right eyebrow. "Can I consider this a battle scar now? Heh.."

"Morning, Shinji," yawned a half-asleep Misato, "why are you up so early? Your first day of school -- _yawn_ -- doesn't start for another hour."

"M-morning, Ms. Katsuragi. Sorry, I couldn't sleep very well.."

"What did I tell you? Call me 'Misato', I don't really like that formality stuff."

"Sorry.." he twitched under her groggy gaze. "Ms- uh - Misato, am I going to have to.. pilot it again?"

".. You don't want to?" her eyes opened completely at this. Why wouldn't he want to help save the world from the angels? She waited patiently for his response.

"Well... it doesn't exactly come naturally to me... and... it hurts..." he managed to keep the stinging feeling at the corner's of his eyes at just that.

Misato continued to stare at her new charge while keeping her anger in check. 'He's just scared.. no way a kid would not want to help save the world... it's every child's fantasy, isn't?'

"Don't worry, Shinji. It was just your first time. Besides, once we train you, those angels won't stand a chance against our Eva Units" she forced out her cheerfulness.

He desperately wanted to change the subject. "Eva units?"

"Yes, the one you used was Unit-01.. the other Eva is Unit-00, but it's currently going through some things.."

"Right.. but what about that girl? The one that was injured?" Though this worked as a change in subject, he honestly did worry about the blue-haired girl that had bled in his hands. "I hope she's okay.."

"Rei Ayanami. She'll be fine soon enough. She's in the same class that you'll be enrolling in today; of course she won't be there today though." The silence continued between the two. Misato again had to break the emptiness. "Did you pilot it... for her?"

Shinji could not help but blush faintly. "I.. I don't know why I did it.." he lied quietly. Though a large part of the reason he did pilot it was so that the burden would not fall on the already injured girl, he did it to hear those words that his father had denied him all those years.

She found her opening to get him to open up. "Ooh, is that so? Did you want to play Rei's knight in shining purple armor? Think that she'd give a kiss for saving her life? Hmmm?"

"A-ah, no no no! I just--"

"Or was it for me Shinji? Did you want for me to give you a nice," she leaned in closer, "reward for saving all of our lives?" She giggled as she received the response she wanted.

"Quit teasing me!"

"C'mon, I can't help myself. It's just too much fun." She patted his head before carnally whispering. "I know other fun activities..."

If it wasn't physically possible, Shinji probably would have probably have died from far too much of his blood being distracted from his head. Misato only laughed and gave him a soft nudge on the head. "C'mon, Shinji, I'll take you to school."

--

'I'm bored..' he mentally reminded himself. School had barely started as usual, it was just another boring day. The staff was nice enough to find, but that wasn't the problem. He wanted to talk to someone, but of course he wouldn't initiate any conversation. Shinji looked around the classroom subtly, hoping someone caught his motions and started talking to him. No such luck.

Small conversations broke out about the new transfer student, of course. Two girls left their seats and came over to the boy whose wish was about to be granted.

"Hey, Ikari! Got a minute?" he turned around slowly, as two students caught his attention. "How come you transferred here just when people started to evacuate?" chirped the girl with short blonde hair.

"Huh? Well, I--"

"So the rumors are true aren't they?" He only starred in confusion.

"Don't play dumb," the dark haired girl spoke suddenly, "your that robot's pilot, aren't you?" Both of their gazes only made him more nervous.

"It's.. true.."

"Ah! I knew it!" This seemed to catch the entire class' attention as people rushed to the young pilot's desk. "Everyone, it's true! He is the pilot!"

The entire classroom seemed to surround the scared Ikari. While his wish was granted, he received too much attention to serve his liking, making him immediately regret his wish. "What was that monster?" This question seemed to graze his ears, it stood out among the meaningless questions of 'how'd they choose you?' and 'does it have a special attack?'

"I.. don't really know what it was.. They called it an "Angel".." a brief shudder hit his body. "But nobody seemed to know exactly what it was..."

An irritated voice broke the silence that came after the young Ikari's explanation. "You think yer all dat, buy ya know nothin', do you?"

"Oh-- Suzuhara! You missed a whole week of school without permission--"

"That's none of yer business! Shaddap!"

The class representative merely stepped out of the way, though it was well within her power to tell the boy to stop where he stood and report him for interrupting the class. The annoyance is his voice was too evident not be feared just a little.

"Yo! New kid!" He slammed his palm onto Shinji's desk. "Step-out side, we need to talk!"

--

"Okay, new kid.. pay attention! My younger sister hurt badly-- she's still da hospital!"

Shinji twitched lightly. He knew where this conversation was going.

"My dad and gramps work in your lab, and I'm da only one who can stay with her!" he shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweat suit. "It ain't da goin' there that I mind.. but what if she get's some sort of scar? She'll feel like she's not pretty! Don't you feel sorry for her?" His anger began to rise at the new arrival's silence. "Whose fault d'ya think it is?.." A vein now stood out of his forehead, and his eyes were wide in anger. "It's your fault! She was pinned under rubble because you had to go crashin' around in your stupid robot!" his finger pointed directly at the Eva pilot.

"Oh.. I'm sorry.." Shinji's eyes lowered as he whispered his hollow apology. What was he suppose to say to such accusations?

"You tryin' to make fun of me!" he was held back from hitting the pilot by his bespectacled companion, "Sorry just won't cut it!"

"Enough already!"

"Back off Kensuke! I'mma clobber da pun--"

"What do you want me to do?.." Shinji finally spoke up. "Kneel down and beg for your forgiveness? If there was something I cou--"

He couldn't continue as a fist collided into his left cheek, sending him to the floor while drops of blood fell from his nose. He couldn't clearly make out what was being said as his vision blurred; probably 'You can't go around decking important pilots'. It didn't really matter as he rubbed the blood onto the short sleeve of his white shirt. His eyes narrowed a bit, but quickly gave up the threatening look. He deserved it anyway.

"You want a piece of me? Come get some.." his grew grin as he cracked his knuckles.

"Knock it off, Touji!"

"Can I ask you something," Shinji asked, after straightening himself up a bit, still not getting off the floor. "What should I do? I didn't even want to pilot the stupid thing.."

"Grr.. " Touji lifted the boy by his collar and looked him in the eye. Shinji looked away. "Grr..." He was sent back to the floor as the jock slammed his forehead onto the 'new kid'.

"Hey! What are you doing! Suzuhara!" Hikari Horaki yelled at the group of three.

"Uh.. class rep.." Kensuke struggled to keep his glasses on at the sight of the angry brunette.

Touji looked at the pilot of the giant robot that had injured his sister. "Listen up! Next time your inna fight-- Watch where ya put your feet!"

Everyone left, leaving Shinj Ikari to hold his cheek and ignore the trail of blood that had landed on his shirt. He got up and walked against the building and leaned against it's painted concrete surface. 'I thought I piloted it to protect everyone?..' he sighed and slumped against the wall until he was on the floor again. He looked up and looked at a tree that had blocked the sun from completely hitting him. The water around it's concave base was a bit stagnant, the shape of the earth around it kept nothing from leaving and only allowed more in, he noticed.

There was still time before he had to go back into class. He figured he might as well rest until he went back to class, since the stains on his shirt would only attract attention. 'Heh, I guess I should fear wishes coming true?' He heard footsteps coming towards him and a gasped that followed it. A young girl, probably about his age, ran up to him and started checking him to see if he was dead.

"Are you ok!" She did not want to touch him, seeing blood on his shirt made it look as if he movement wasn't something that would help him. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be coming from underneath his shirt.

"I-I'm fine.." he finally looked up to see her concerned face. She was pretty, but he did not know if it was because he was feeling a little dizzy. There was a small, almost unnoticeable mole on the left side of her face, near her chin. Her hair was sable, and partly shone from what little light was permitted by the obtruding tree. She repeated the question, apparently not convinced by his words. The mystery girl began to inspect him closer, checking for cuts or bruises, letting her long hair fall on him often. His mediocre wounds didn't matter to Shinji, what did bother him was how a few trickles of blood had managed to transfer onto her hair.

"Stop, your getting your hair all bloody."

She paused and looked at her hair and how it did manage to gather a few small drops of blood on it. She stared at the imperfections on her hair and then back at the boy she had just been helping. Shinji couldn't look her in the eye and looked down and muttered an apology. There was a genuine look of confusion on her russet colored eyes.

"You have a nosebleed and your worried about my hair?" she stood up and offered him her hand. "C'mon you should go to the infirmary."

He looked at her hand before accepting and lifted himself up with her assistance. "You don't need to help me.." he avoided looking at her eyes.

"I guess your right.. but I want to."

Shinji dusted himself off and rubbed his left cheek and winced. Her concerned look only deepened at this.

"So what happened?"

"Hmm.. some guy hit me."

"Well, that much is obvious. But why? I mean.. you piloted that giant robot didn't you? You saved us."

".,. I hurt his sister." She stayed silent but she moved back slightly. "Sh-she was pinned under some rubble when I was fighting..."

"Ooh.." she was desperate to change the subject now. "Well... I'm sure it was just an accident. Sorry for asking..."

There was an awkward silence between the two.

"Pilot Ikari." A monotonous voice announced it's arrival out of nowhere. "We are needed at HQ."

"Ooh.."

"I will report in first." As quickly as she came, the blue-haired girl left.

"Who was she?" She inquired.

"She's Rei Ayanami... she works with me."

"She didn't really seem all too worried about you." she added with an edge on her voice.

"I.. I have to report to HQ. There's probably another angel attacking.."

"Angel? You mean that monster that attacked us?" Fright was thick on her voice.

"Well... thanks for your concern... but I have to go..."

"Ok..." She watched as he began to run towards a black car that had arrived a few seconds prior.

He stopped as he picked up on the girl's disappointed tone. "By the way, my name is Shinji Ikari."

She permitted herself a small smile. "My name is Mayumi Yamagishi! Nice to meet you!"

--

The car sped towards NERV headquarters at an exceedingly high speed. Though both pilots stared passively at the back of the leather seats of the NERV intelligence vehicle, a one-sided tension filled the small space. Shinji wasn't mad - simply frustrated - that Ayanami had not asked about his injuries. His eyes would occasionally wander to the pale girl's stoic appearance-- she either did not want to have anything to do with him or didn't notice. Didn't he deserve at least a 'thank you' for shouldering her burden of piloting Unit-01? He shook his head and cast his eyes downward. 'It's ok I guess. It's not like I would have left her there.. I just wish she would talk to me...'.

"Is there something you would like to discuss, Pilot Ikari?" Her quiet voice startling the young boy.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing.." He frowned at his own inability to spark a conversation. "Are you feeling ok?" he asked hesitantly, after noticing the sling around her neck, which supported the weight of the damaged arm of his fellow pilot. Her head was bandaged around the middle of her head, bandaged a bit more over her right eye. He started feeling guilty for even considering holding any resentment towards the hurt girl-- selfish and conceited were the only words he could find to describe his thoughts.

"I am fine. Do not concern yourself."

The short ride was finished in silence.

--

Mayumi sat in the corner of the shelter and looked at the several small groups of people either talking about the reason as to why the city was on high alert, or whether or not the pilot of 'the cool robot' would be fighting once again. She thought back at the lean, almost scrawny young boy, she had found with a bloody nose behind the main building of the school. He was the one that protected the city she had barely entered? He was the one that climbed inside a robot and fought an unknown enemy called an 'angel'? She had a hard time digesting this. After all, why not just use trained soldiers instead of a middle school boy?

She brought her knees to her chest and rested her head on the turquoise colored fabric of her skirt. No matter how hard she tried to rid her thoughts of Shinji Ikari, she always failed. 'Why is it any of my concern? He's probably fine.. he's no one to me, anyway.' Her thoughts continued to wander around various subjects, in an attempt to stop thinking of the brown-haired boy.

'I've been here for two days, but I've only talked to him and the class representative..' she thought sadly, 'she's nice and all, but it's probably just her job or something.' She drew her legs closer to her small frame and waited.

--

"Hey Touji... let's sneak out." Kensuke said absently. He already knew they would.

"Are ya nutz! We be killed!"

"Shhhhhh.. the class rep with hear you." He used a single finger to raise the glasses upward and into their proper place. "That might happen even if we stay here." He proceeded with caution. "Besides.. don't have an obligation to watch this battle?"

"What is dat suppose to mean?" Touji was honestly confused at that remark.

"That robot of his protected all of us in that last fight. You didn't even think about that before you decked him!" his eyes narrowed, "Don't you think you owe him one?"

The two exchanged glares at each other before Touji broke the silence.

"Naaah. Your a real slave ta your desires ain't-cha?" He got up and stretched.

"Whatever you say, Touji.. but it sounds to me like your starting to feel bad about hitting him." Kensuke got up as well as a plan formed in his mind.

"Say what! I'll make you feel bad--" the jock was interrupted as his mouth was covered by his friend.

Kensuke turned towards a group of small girls gossiping and playing cards. "Class rep! We have to go to the bathroom."

"Well you'd better hurry it up. We are in a shelter, you know!"

And with that both left the protection of the school's shelter.

--

"Shinji! You will need to neutralize the enemy's A.T. Field and repeat fire. Just like in practice." C-ommanded Ritsuko. "But be mindful of the ammunition, ok?"

".. yes ma'am."

"Eva-01, Launch!"

--

"Kensuke, wait up already!" huffed a tired Touji, "your goin' too fast." He grunted up the stairs towards the shrine built ontop of the same mountain side the school was built on. 'Man.. when that otaku sees something he wants to film he doesn't have human limits...'.

"Whooaa! Here it comes!" He pointed the lens of his camera onto the floating aubergine 'centipede-like squid thingy', as he so elegantly put. Two large, almost painted on eyes were on top of it's triangular shaped head. It stopped and raised itself as a king cobra would-- letting it's threatening upper half tower over anything it casts it's shadow on. 'Woooow..' Kensuke awed silently as a portion of the angel's flesh opened to reveal two large pronged appendages appear at it's sides.

"Man! This is worth sneaking out for!.." he said as tears of joy ran down his eyes.

"You get off on the weirdest crap.." Touji dryly commented before he took a good look at the 'angel', "That's an angel? It's disgustin'.."

"Look! It's.." the side of the building adjacent to the angel opened up like the iron gates of a roman colosseum, revealing it's prized gladiator. "The Evangelion!"

The purple beast appeared within the void of the building, it's mechanical exterior offered a noticeable contradiction. Not just for it's shining armor in it's dark cave, but for the battle spirit that it portrayed, but pilot lacked.

Within it's core, the pilot of Unit-01 waited for orders to assault this new angel he must destroy. He would have liked some help, but he wouldn't want it if it came from an injured girl, especially when it came to from a girl who seemed a bit like him. Shy and distant. His right hand tensed and unteased, tightened and loosen as he became more and more impatient. He wanted to get out of the Eva.

"We don't know it's capabilities.. but it's better to take safe shots and retreat until it shows it's actual combat skills," The purple haired captain informed her charge, "Be careful."

The picture of his guardian left the inside of the entry plug and left him to himself.

"Just center the target and..." he mumbled as he clutched the controls and willed his Eva to swerved from it's hiding place to it's side and pointed the rifle towards the angel, "FIRE!"

Shinji clutched the controls tighter and tighter until his knuckles cracked-- his eyes wide and teeth grinding with almost tangible anger. Sweat appeared and dissolved into the now transparent LCL-- Yet the angel stood it's ground as large explosive rounds were fired at it. Smoke soon shrouded the angel.

Misato saw this and knew that the young pilot's anger has overtaken him. "IDIOT! You can't see past all that smoke! Calm down, Shinji!"

Shinji's eyes looked as if he had woken up from a nightmare. "Agh--" his shoulders slumped but never let the rifle down as the smoke began to clear. "uff.. uff.." an electrical sound resonated from the veil of smoke. "Hu--" He was cut off as cerise tentacles moved to attack at a blinding speed. The Eva fell back as it's rifle was cut in two by one of the glowing whips and the other hit the concrete of the streets with an echoing 'whiz'.

"Unnnhh.."

From the mountainside Touji and Kensuke looked in despair as the Eva was down in less than a minute.

"What! He's gettin' trashed already!" yelled Touji before turning to Kensuke, who was filming everything he could.

"He's just warming up!"

"Shinji! I'm sending you a spare rif--" her voice was cut off as Shinji's cracking voice came in too loud and clear.

"N-No. It's coming."

The Eva rolled from it's down position and dodged a pair of glowing tentacles, sending bit's of shaved concrete flying over the city. He couldn't fight back, all he could do was back away and jump from the lashing tentacles that threatened to slice him and his Eva into pieces. As buildings were torn asunder, Shinji struggled to keep his Eva balanced on the debris and fell onto his back as tentacle grazed his abdomen, a pain he too felt. A timer appeared near his face that begun to count down from five minutes. 'What the?..'

"Umbilical cable severed!" shouted Maya, "Eva has switched to internal batteries!"

"Shinji!" Misato began yelling over the communications monitor that now appeared inside the Eva's entry plug, "You've got four minutes and thirty five seconds of power left! You have to defeat it now!"

The Eva struggled against the cracking building and lifted itself up from it's stupor. Despite the fight still left inside of Unit-01's pilot, he was not in the position to be on the offensive-- besides it was hard to defeat a giant monster without a gun. The angel's looming shadow covered Unit-01. Suddenly one of it's tentacles wrapped itself on Unit-01's left ankle before sending it flying towards the mountainside.

"AAAIIIEEEEE"

Touji and Kensuke looked up when they saw a large shadow cover the area. A scream of absolute - almost nine year old girlish - terror filled the small mountain shrine as the Evangelion came closer... closer... closer, and crashed into the mountainside it's hand slamming hard where they were.

Shinji looked around his and clutched at the throbbing pain in his head-- his headache faded into memory as he looked at where his Eva's hand had landed. Between it's middle and forefinger, huddled together, were two young students who he had recognized instantly. 'What the hell? What are they--'

"Shinji, get up!" With Misato's frantic call, Shinji turned to find the angel nearing his location. Before he could contemplate what to do, he raised his arms and took hold of the angel's bright tentacles.

Unbeknownst to Shinji, Mayumi had sneaked away from the shelter after her trip to the bathroom revealed an opened door towards the small shrine at the top of the mountain. She had witnessed the fight between the 'angel' and the robot and would have left in fear, but something had made her go after seeing the robot crash into the mountain-- a tugging, almost physical pull, near her heart. She saw two students huddled together near the fallen robot. Her fear overriding her courtesy, caused her to kick the two boys until they took her advice and ran back to the shelter.

Meanwhile, Shinji grit his teeth as the burning feeling in his palms transferred from the Eva to him. He wanted to make his move, do something that would save his pathetic hide, but he couldn't. Not with the possibility of hurting those two. He turned his head to where he last saw the two-- his eyes widened at the sight of the black-haired girl that he had met earlier. His hands shook violently and let the right tentacle slip which caused the destruction of the stairs towards the shrine-- he wouldn't be able to hold the angel back any longer. He raised his hand near the girls position just in time to block the angel's assault and took hold of it again.

"Who is that!" yelled Ritsuko as she looked onto her subordinate's monitor, "Mayumi Yamagishi? One of Shinji's classmates!"

Misato looked at the profile of the mystery girl and grimaced. She knew she would be overstepping her boundaries. "Shinji, lock in the Eva's commands and let her into the plug!" Ritsuko looked at her as if she was a madwoman. Misato ignored her.

Shinji nodded and tightened his grip on the angel's tentacles and locked in the command before yelling over the external speakers. "Yamagishi, hurry up and climb in!"

Having no escape and any other plans, she looked towards the white cylinder that had protruded from the back of the robot's head and found the best path. She climbed onto the shrine and climbed the trees nearby onto the white cylinder before staring inside of it. 'Water?' As if reading her mind, Shinji spoke.

"It's LCL, just get inside! You can breath it!" The panic in his voice was clear.

"I.. Hmmm..." Blindly placing her trust in the boy, she jumped inside of the semi-transparent orange water and closed her eyes. She held her breath as long as she could but failed to hold it forever as she felt the cylinder shift and move inside of the robot. She breathed in the strange water and found it unpleasant, but not fatal. Lights and various images flashed around the narrow tube before being able to completely see inside. She looked over and found Shinji Ikari in what appeared to be a form fitting, blue and white wet-suit.

"I-Ikari?" She focused her attention towards him and gasped. He was furious and clutching the controls as if his life depended on it-- well, it did. She heared another voice invade the small place.

"Shinji, concentrate on getting up and buying some time for a retreat. You've only got a few more minutes of power!"

He seemed to struggle against the controls and trembled as his hands tightened and relaxed over the controls; his strength was leaving him. Mayumi closed the place between her and the pilot before taking a look forward at the monster that had caused everyone so much trouble and pain. Her anger increased as he saw the breaking point of Ikari nearing. That tugging feeling reappeared and it was telling her to do... something, something she couldn't quite place her finger on. She kneeled next to the boy who had not noticed her presence and held his hands over the controls. She felt something else... pain, a horrible pain starting from her palms, leading to the rest of her body.

Shinji took notice of the hands that had covered his own and looked at her, noticing how what he was feeling was being transferred to her too. 'No, no, no.. not anyone but me..' he thought. He couldn't let her feel the pain he felt. The burning pain that had spread from his hands to his arms and shoulders. The weariness all over his body, his mind. His eyes narrowed at the angel in front of him. "Not her.." he started chanting like a mantra. She couldn't quiet make out what he was saying, but held her grip firm.

"Dam- Damn it!" The Eva brought it's knee up and placed it's foot under it's center and pulled his arms backwards, gathering momentum, then kicking it with every ounce of strength it could muster. The angel flew down the mountainside and landed gracelessly against the base of a nearby building, sending a spare rifle to the rubble above the streets.

"Shinji! Use retrieval route 34! Fall back, now!" yelled Misato.

Shinji would have followed orders. He should have followed orders. But he couldn't forget who was at his side-- a girl he barely knew that just now practically saved his life. His eyes narrowed at his recovering opponent, and he charged.

"Progressing knife has been drawn!"

"What was that!" asked a stunned Misato, "Follow my orders, Shinji! I said, FALL BACK!" a noticeable vein appearing on her forehead.

"EEEEEYYYYYAAHHHH!"

The purple Eva ran towards the now battle-ready angel, it's sole intent driven by the will of Shinji Ikari, and charged knowing that it's pilot will have his wish, his revenge. With the girl now between his arms and her hands still clutching his own, he was pushed forward and jumped down-- casting it's silhouette over the soon to be maimed angel. The bold frontal attack did not seem to frighten the angel. It raised both of it's tentacles and caught the Eva in the abdomen.

"Ughh.." Shinji felt an intense pain inside of him. 'Too much.. too..' His eyes caught hold off the girl's hands-- still wrapped around his own and something in his mind snapped. She was obviously in pain from the moans that emanated from her. 'No! How could I?..' He felt a her hands tighten around his own, but she kept her head down and whimpered. This was too much guilt for him to take. With a final scream of anger he drove the progressive knife deep inside of the red orb that protruded from the base of the angel's triangular head.

"YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH--"

"Unit-01's activation time remaining-- 30 seconds!" reported Maya.

'What..', Misato thought as the battle would soon come into a conclusion. 'What are you thinking, Shinji?..'

24... 23... 22...

"HHHH-- Agh!.." Shinji winced as the pain in his abdomen intensified. Mayumi felt two sharp pains in her stomach, which simultaneously helped ease her into unconsciousness. Shinji was too far gone in his fit of rage to notice the pair of hands that had let go of his own.

"Why won't you DIE!"

9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4...

The sparks from the knifes contact with the red orb slowed.

3...

Shinji arms trembled as he struggle to keep conscious.

2...

A large crack developed in the center of the orb

1...

The orb lost it's color as it's outer portion gave way.

0!

Silence.

"Eva Unit-01 activation seized!" Informed Maya before a more relaxing update was announced. "The target has fallen silent. No signs of activity."

Misato looked at the main screen and stared at the slumped form of the Evangelion, supporting the downed body of the angel by it's progressive knife. She scowled at the sight and her eyes gazed towards the two, no longer glowing tentacles, protruding from the slim abdomen of the purple beast. 'I'm going to have to have a little chat with Shinji..'.

Inside of the entry plug was an even more somber mood in the atmosphere. 'Who do I do this for?...'. Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as he let go of the controls and tried to bring his knees to his chest but couldn't. He looked down and saw the wilting form of Mayumi.

"Yamagishi!" he lifted himself slowly from the throne of his soul and grabbed the girl. "Oh no... please don't be dea--" Her eyes moved slightly and focused onto the eye's of the Eva pilot. "Yamagishi! Your alive!" He embraced the confused girl and did his best to keep the tears inside.

Her head cleared the fog that had developed and she found herself near tears too. She returned the embrace-- not really knowing why or caring. Her body shivered as the pain in her stomach subsided and found herself a bit more relaxed in his embrace. 'Is he just scared? Or does he genuinely care?' she thought. She shook the thoughts from her head and looked at the boy who had only seconds ago showed strength beyond her experience. She felt.. safe.

--

"Misato?"

She mumbled her response. She wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. "What is it, Ritsuko?"

"Look at these readings. During the time that both the pilot and that student manned Unit-01 the synch rate increased, drastically." She moved aside as a grumpy purple haired woman stared at the graphs with little interest in them. Her eyebrows twitched. 'This won't save him from me.'

--

"Why did you disregard my orders, Shinji?"

Shinji and Mayumi sat on the bench opposite of the enraged woman. Shinji looked down and stared at his shoes. He didn't want to explain it to her, especially with Mayumi right next to him. It was embarrassing the way he let his emotions take control of his actions, especially when the girl's life was in danger.

"I'm sorry.."

" 'I'm sorry', isn't going to cut it! I'm your operations supervisor! You have an obligation to follow my every command!" She added a bit of ire to her voice. "Understand!"

Shinji never looked at her eyes, but twitched under her gaze and words. She was completely right, after all. If he hadn't lost it back there, Mayumi might not have gotten hurt, and she wouldn't have to watch him get chewed out by his 'guardian'.

"I know I told you let her in," she focused her gaze towards the black-haired girl who seemed to shrink under her stare, "So your not in any trouble for that, but you deliberately disobeyed me! What would have happened if you had lost?"

He couldn't look this bad in front of her. "I don't see what the big deal is. I won, didn't I!"

There was an echoing sound in the small room as Misato's hand made contact with Shinji's face.

"How dare you! Just what do you think your duty is!" she fought back the urge to rub the stinging in her palm, "And what would have happened to her, if you had failed to win!"

Mayumi looked at the floor with even more intent and bit her bottom lip. She felt like a pawn.

Shinji would have retorted at that, but he looked at the girl who had climbed into the Eva with him and lowered his head in defeat. What could he say? She was completely right on this one. Misato turned away from her both children and sighed.

"Both of you, go home. Get some rest, ok?"

"... Yes, ma'am." Mayumi merely nodded and followed Shinji out of the door.

--

The pair walked in silence. Shinji walked slowly and seemed to have no particular destination. This caught Mayumi's attention and summoned her courage for the second time that day.

"So.. where are you going?" Her voice was shaky at best.

"I..I don't know."

"Your not going home?" she raised an eyebrow inquisitively, "But didn't Ms. Katsura--"

"I don't feel like going home... besides it's still an hour or two before the sun even begins to set."

"Oh..." she softly bit her lower lip and continued, "Do you wanna see something?"

"L-like what?" he couldn't contain his blush.

Mayumi picked up on this and matched his hue quickly. "No, not.. I mean someplace interesting.. I mean, I understand if you don't wanna."

"Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere else.."

Their walk continued in silence as Mayumi led the way.

--

By the time sunset had arrived, Shinji found himself at a lookout near the outskirts of Tokyo-3. As promised, the place was interesting. It had an complete view of Tokyo-3 and a small glimpse of the sea not too far off from the city. He saw the imprint of his Eva unit in the distance, which caused him to cast his eyes downward and turned his head away from Mayumi. Just another reminder of how he almost let someone else down.

Mayumi caught sight of his field of vision and understood. She sat at the edge of the outlook and placed herself between the iron railings before staring off into the distance. Shinji stood nearby but kept his distance, obviously uncomfortable.

"Sit." She patted the ground near her and continued to stare at the shimmering lights of Tokyo-3.

Shinji obeyed and sat down near her. Silence ensued.

"So... how's your umm.. nose?" She mentally slapped her forehead.

"It's ok... how's your..." he trailed off into a mumble.

"I'm fine. It.. it only hurt for a little while." She lied.

It was another minute of silence before Shinji broke the tension.

"Why did you do it?" His curiosity was honest.

"... I don't know.. you seemed so... so... angry. But at the same time, scared. I just wanted to help you.."

"But why? You saw how hard it was... I," he cut himself off as her eyebrows knit, "you knew you would get hurt."

"Yeah, I knew... but I wanted to help... you."

The same awkward silence filled the air-- thankfully there were sudden and organized movements in the cities streets. Buildings began to rise from the ground and reflected the orange sun that was covering the city. Both stared at this event in quiet amazement and took a much needed breath in their uneasy conversation. Mayumi looked at the young boy as he stared at the city and smiled. She knew that he would not stay out of her thoughts, so why resist? 'Even if he got bored later on, at least I'd have tried. Right, dad?' she thought.

"Ikari... may I call you Shinji?"

He immediately looked at her and did not find anything on her face that would indicate a joke. "Only if I can call you Mayumi..."

She looked towards the city in an attempt to hide her blush. "I would.. like that." She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder and continued to stare off into the city. Shinji contemplated running away, but discarded the idea. That would be rude, and hurtful, especially when the girl had helped him defeat the angel. Besides, it was comfortable.

"So, umm... how did you find out about this place?"

"We flew by over this area, when me and my family came to Tokyo-3."

"You spoted it from the plane?"

"Helicopter. Civilian planes aren't really allowed over these skies for some reason..."

After some idle chatter, Mayumi leaned closer and relaxed herself as his arm wrapped itself around her slim frame. He didn't look at her-- he knew he would lose his confidence and run away. But for now this would suffice for both of them.

"Thanks... for saving me." He whispered into the air.

"No... we did it together, right..?" She responded quietly.

They both gazed at the orange-red sky over Tokyo-3 and mentally voiced their content to one another.

--

To be continued...

--

Author's Notes: Edited This has been slightly edited so it can look and be more... well... readable and understandable. Not too much, though.

Hello and welcome to the end of Chapter 1 of my first fan fiction. I thought I'd try something a bit challenging for my first project, and what better than writing a story about Shinji and a character I hardly know! I just wanted to make it clear that while the main focus of the story will be on the romance between Shinji and Mayumi, my main concern will be how this will affect everyone around these two characters and the changes that will occur in Shinji.

Ooh, and if I made it look like Mayumi is 'Mary-Sue'ish' it was not intentional. Her character flaws (which will play an important role in the events that follow) will become more apparent in later chapters. I mean, just because she's not cold as ice or as temperamental as flame doesn't mean she's perfect.

Alright, be as cruel as you want in the reviews, I'd prefer brutal honesty over false praise.

PS- It would also be interesting to know that this was originally a Mana/Shinji/Mayumi love triangle crap story. Then I changed it into the Shinji/Mayumi story since I knew my preference to Mana would arise and ruin the story. I would rather write a Mana/Shinji when I have a bit more experience under by belt. Innuendo or not? You decide.

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy.

This is the second chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

"What!" Ritsuko's composure gave way at Misato's coolness on the situation, "He's been missing since yesterday!

The purple-haired woman leaned against the cool steel of Ritsuko's office and folded her arms. This situation had her more worried than she would ever let on. Section 2, NERV's intelligence bureau, was had lost sight of Shinji and had been unable to find the brown-haired boy. It seemed almost comical that NERV had been unable to locate the vagrant child. Almost. There was still the issue of not having a useable pilot in case an angel chooses to attack.

"Yeah... I though he was acting weird, but I never thought he would run away."

"And you call yourself his overseer?"

Misato had nothing to argue against. Her sarcasm was justified, wasn't it? "Don't say that."

Ritsuko sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair. "We have to report this."

"Wait a minute! He still might--"

"Misato! What if something happens to him? It'll be too late by the time you have time to report it--" she inspected the worried face of the major. "-- or are you saying that you'll look after him yourself?"

Misato looked away from the blonde scientist. "How? I have no idea where he would go..."

--

Touji Suzuhara stared off into the distance, his arm draped across the railing outside of the school's window, gave him the look of a man with deep regrets and deep in thought. Of course, his school friends did not consider Touji to be one for deep thinking-- but his best friend, Kensuke Aida, knew better than to underestimate him. Beneath his jock exterior was an intelligent, albeit tactless young man.

"Say, Kensuke... how d'ya think he's doing?"

Kensuke sat at his seat and continued to inspect his newly made model of some sort of military helicopter. "Who?"

"Who else? The new kid." He tried to state this as casual as possible, and succeeded to some degree. "He hasn't been to school since--"

"Since you knocked him on his ass?" Kensuke cut-in knowingly. "What? You worried about him or something?"

"Who said I was worried! I'm just wonderin' where he's been!"

"For you, that's the same thing isn't it?"

Unbeknownst to the two, a girl with sable hair was sitting in the back of the class, listening to very word that was spoken. Her lips were pursed and her eyes vaguely betrayed her anger. That jock was the one that had hurt the young boy? The boy that had saved her and possibly every soul in Tokyo-3? She grit her teeth and got up when it suddenly flashed through her mind. She was about to yell at the two strangers over a boy she had met only recently? Sure she had embraced him, but it probably just due to... to...

Mayumi shook her head and took her belongings and left the classroom to finish the book she was reading before she had picked up on the conversation. She found herself back to the place she had found Ikari.

"I wonder where he went.."

She found looked up at the top of the tree and squinted her eyes as the sun shone in it's endless summer. Mayumi walked past the tree and walked uphill until she reached a comfortable spot on the soft grass. She rubbed the hem of her skirt and took out her book before sitting down. Concentrating all thoughts on her book, Mayumi tried to force the young Ikari out of her head, but failed.

"Why?.. He's a friend.. if he's even that to me.." She of course tried to block out her instance of contentment in the young boy's embrace. 'Probably just wanted to say he was glad for the help,' she thought dismissingly.

She looked at her book once more and realized why she was unable to concentrate. She reached into her shoulder bag and took out her glasses. 'That was weird..' she thought with confusion. And with that she read on and was soon lost in her readings.

Back in the classroom, Touji and Kensuke sat arguing over what appeared to be mindless drabble-- until Hikari Horaki entered the room. Lunch wasn't over yet, so it was strange, but not enough to cower in fear. Apparently, Hikari was a bit more than upset at the 'Idiot Duo' leaving the safety of the shelter. She had to beat the confession out of those two to find out what had happened during the angel attack. Hikari did not enjoy what she had to do, but after hearing how Mayumi saved their sorry asses and was left behind by the two morons, she had justifiable reasons for 'cracking some skulls.'

Her terrifying gaze rested on the two and she immediately clenched her fists. Well, maybe she did enjoy it a little more than she would let on.

"You two! Here!" she pointed to a spot in front of her. "We need to decide your punishment."

The two did as were told and entered her presence and sulked their heads. They also felt bad for what they had done and wanted to apologize, but neither really knew how to talk to the quiet girl. She was a loner type, they assumed, just like Ayanami.

Hikari stared coldly at them and folded her arms. "I need you two to apologize to Yamagishi!" Her eyebrow's twitched in anger. Normally she was formal and mannerly, but not in this particular situation. "And once he gets back, Ikari too!"

The two stared at their shoes and mumbled a yes. Even Touji would not try and argue with her. The last time they saw her this angry was when they had started their photo business, a lewd collection of pictures of the other girls around school. They had made the mistake of taking a picture of her when changing in the locker room. Since then, both had feared the right hook of the class representative.

"Yes ma'am." they answered, obviously defeated, "but where's Yamagishi?"

"Don't bother her now!" The class rep knew exactly where she was, but she knew that the girl would not like to be bothered while reading. After all, she would have gladly ate her lunch with her if she would have not felt like an imposition. "Talk to her after school. Then you better thank her for saving your cowardly butts!" She stared at them intently before quickly rising her right arm to her hair. The two jumped back and covered their heads. She fixed her twin pony tailed hair and left them.

Hikari left the room and close the door. She permitted herself a mischievous smile and mentally admitted her liking of such power. And with that, she left towards Mayumi's location, she had to be done with the book by now, right?

--

"This is dumb.."

Shinji Ikari was lazily walking around the streets of Tokyo-3 searching for something-- anything to keep his mind off of Eva. His head was hung low, something in character as far as he considered, wondering if he was just wasting his time. With no destination, he was already right where he wanted to be, after all.

'It doesn't matter how long I keep walking. I have nowhere to return too,' he thought as he found himself nearing the outskirts of the city, 'No matter where I go, I'll never be use to anyone. I'm too insecure.'

He made his way to the middle of nowhere, a large grassy plain with nothing but the surrounding mountains and clear night sky to accompany him. Shinji walked through the grassy knolls and bumps in the land before he reached a stagnant river. He looked around to see if there was a way around the obtrusion, finding nothing, he gave up and took a step into the murky waters. His foot sank in effortlessly but stopped quickly. It wasn't too deep, but it would be a long and slow journey through the water's drawn out distance. He rolled his slacks up to his knees and continued on, spotting a light in the distance.

"Huh? A campfire?" he asked, keeping his gaze at the arrangement of burning sticks. "Who would be out here in the middle of nowhe--"

Feeling the end of a rifle to his head, Shinji's cut off his voice immediately. Was father going to have him killed because he had stopped piloting the Eva and ran away? 'He's late.'

"Who dares intrude on my campsite?"

Shinji turned around and with trembling hands, spoke fast. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." He looked up on a vaguely familiar face.

"Hey Ikari, I thought it was you."

Shinji started at the militarily dressed boy with a relieved and confused look. He was covered in camouflage gear and aside from the fact he was in middle school, he looked as if he had belonged in some sort of armed service. The 'Rambo' style face paint seemed to exemplify this to a small degree, but succeeded mostly in making him look an obsessed teenager playing war.

"Ugh... 'Aida', right?" Without the gun to his head, he faced the boy completely and was glad to see the gun was obviously fake. "Why are you in that get-up?"

"Playing war, I guess you could say."

"Alone?"

"Yeah."

Shinji face did little to hide his thought on the subject. 'Nut job...'

"What are you doing out here, Ikari?"

Shinji did not respond. The silence did not last long though, Shinji's growling stomach made sure of that much.

"Heh, want something to eat?"

--

Hikari Horaki laid on her bed lazily, completely lost in though; heart-warming though they be, ones that brought many problems in the lives of Ikari and Mayumi. It had been an... informative day, to say the least. After her little confrontation with the 'Idiot Duo', she had walked over to where she had last saw the dark-haired girl, hoping to at least apologize for her so called 'friends' actions during the monster attack.

When she had reached Mayumi, she was as she last saw her; lost between the pages of her timeworn book. Hikari regarded Shinji Ikari at the thought. Mayumi definitely had some choice words to describe the mopped haired boy.

Hikari got up from the comfort of her bed and opened the glass door leading into the balcony of her room. Her tawny colored eyes stared at the full moon in the sky, asking for any other-wordly force to grant her a wish.

"Ikari... do you really have it that bad?.."

The events of the quickly flooded back.

_"Hi!" said the very cheery class representative, "How are you feeling?"_

_Mayumi looked up at the concerned, yet optimistic face of the class rep. "I'm ok... if it's about what happened..."_

_"Well it is, but don't worry. You saved those idiots lives, you shouldn't feel bad about anything." Hikari kept her smile, but faltered a bit at the ensuing silence. "Do you mind if I sit down?"_

_Mayumi placed her book inside of her shoulder bag and scooted to the left, drawing her knees to her chest. Hikari sat next to her and tried to open some sort of conversation, failing and succeeding at certain points. It was hard not to become friends with the class rep, but most shied away from her due to her position. Fortunately, this did not seem to be the case with Mayumi._

_"Mayumi... do you mind telling me about what happened? About what happened when you got inside the robot?" Hikari said gently, trying not to impose herself on the shy new girl._

_"Well... once that giant... whatever it was, broke the stairs leading back inside of the shelter, I had nowhere else to go," her casual way of recalling that part unnerved Hikari slightly, "But then, the back of the Eva opened up and some thing they called a 'entry plug' came out. I heard Shinji's voice and he told me to get in."_

_Hikari stayed silent but did not look at her. The cracking of Mayumi's voice told her that simply using her ears would let the story flow better than staring at her face, blankly._

_"Inside, it was like water, but a bit.. thicker and it didn't smell too good. I saw Shinji.. he has holding the 'angel' back." Mayumi looked away from Hikari and continued on. "Everything seemed to move for about a second... I think that was when we went inside of the Eva."_

_Hesitantly, Hikari placed her arm around the girl when she heard her start to mumble a bit. Mayumi hated the fact she was being so weak willed._

_"Once everything stopped moving, I saw Shinji sitting down in this... cockpit thing. He looked so... angry... when I found him yesterday.. I didn't think he was capable of being so- so... terrifying."_

_Hikari's mouth gaped a bit at the new information on the young Ikari. She had only talked to Ikari once, and that was for his introduction into the school, but to think that he could be possible of the emotion Mayumi claimed he had... seemed unnatural._

_"Yamagi--"_

_"Mayumi..." she said softly as she wiped at the forming tears. "Anyway... I saw him losing. For some reason he was hurting, just like his Eva. I couldn't help it... I put my hands over his and tried to help him in some way... and then my hands started to feel like they were on fire. It started at my fingertips, then palms, and then all the way up to my whole arms."_

_"Wait... you could feel what the machine was feeling?" Hikari was obviously in disbelief._

_"Yeah... but I know he had it worst." Her gaze crossed over the school's large field area. "I kept holding onto him. He kept chanting something... I think he was saying 'Not her..'.. I don't really know. Eventually he knocked the angel off of him and he charged at it and... I can't remember after that."_

_"You passed out?"_

_"No, not exactly. I was just dizzy and confused... I kept holding onto him and then it felt like two knives were driven through my stomach. I couldn't concentrate and then I passed out," she rubbed at her abdomen lightly, "I woke up to find him almost crying... he was holding me."_

_The blush and sad smile that crossed Mayumi's face made Hikari feel a little better. At least she was ok, and apparently flattered, at the very least, by Ikari's gallantry. Strange, but not uncute, in her opinion._

_"I didn't know whether or not he just needed something- anyone near him... I know I would have, but I later found out it was that he cared about me..." she fumbled with the hem of her skirt, "which might seem weird, since we only just met... but things like that happend, I guess."_

_Hikari looked at the blushing girl and smiled at her embarrassment. But there was still one question on her mind. "How did you find out?"_

_"Well... after--" her expression darkened at the thought of the purpled haired woman who had striked Shinji, "after we left NERV Headquarters... he walked me home. And he wasn't going home... I still had some time before I had to go... so we went to the outlook... near the outskirts of Tokyo-3." Her blush was evident once again._

_Completely lost in the current story, Hikari forgot about the angel fight. "You two didn't ki--"_

_"N-No! We just... held each other... m-more like consoled each other, really..." She didn't know why she was telling Hikari all this, but she needed someone to talk to, someone besides her sister, a friend._

_"Hmm..." Hikari looked at Mayumi, who was trying her best to shrink in size. "I didn't think Ikari would be so... forward."_

_"Well, I honestly was the aggressor..."_

_Hikari laughed playfully at this, but her laughter faded away at the serious expression on Mayumi's face._

_"Hikari... I'm worried... he hasn't been to school in awhile." She faced Hikari with tears stinging at the corner of her eyes._

_"Don't worry, I'm sure he's ok... he's probably at his house recovering or something..."_

_"I know I'm being stupid and childish... I barely met him, but I just need to make sure he's ok..." Mayumi started wiping the soon-to-be-tears._

_Hikari then smiled at her a knowing smile; she had the perfect solution for the troubled teen. " If you really wanna talk to him, I have some hand-outs you could take to him."_

_  
"I can't do it today..." she hated being whiny, but she couldn't help herself._

_"Don't worry, you can do it tomorrow. If he's not here tomorrow, of course." She smiled nervously._

_Mayumi hugged her new friend and smiled the best she could. "Thank you, Hikari! Thank you!"_

_"No problem... but for now, let's get to class. We'll be late if we don't hurry!"_

Hikari straightened out her pajamas and left towards her bed once more. It was hard to sleep when she remembered the day's events. Mayumi was a loner, that was her first impression, but she just wasn't use to making friends, which is more than likely, just like Shinji. With one last look at the moon she closed her eyes and hoped for her new friend's happiness.

"Ikari... please be alright. At least, for her sake."

--

Shinji wrinkled his nose as he sneezed. He dismissed it as a combination of the bottom his wet slacks and the cold night air. Despite some awkwardness Shinji managed to get to know the military otaku known as Kensuke Aida. Sure he was obsessed with all and every type of armaments and that kind of scared the young Evangelion pilot, but he was a new friend, wasn't he?

Both were around a camp fire, eating for the most part, silently. It was not until Kensuke spoke up, that the silence ceased.

"You know... Touji was worried about you, when you didn't show up to school." he mentioned almost casually.

"Huh?" Shinji stared confused.

"He's not really a bad guy, it's just that he was pretty angry about what happened to his sister, and he didn't have anywhere to let that anger out." Kensuke said sagely. "It doesn't make it right, I know, just try and understand. He'll make it up to you when he's blown off some steam."

Shinji stared at the earth beneath him in silence.

"You might have it rough, Ikari. But I still envy you!" Kensuke smiled at his next statement. "Whatever your problems are, you still get to pilot that Evangelion!"

Shinji was shocked at the statement at first, but smiled at his point of view. "I wish I could look at it that way..."

"You don't?"

"I guess not..."

Kensuke kept silently and poked at the firewood with a wet branch, watching the embers fly into the night sky. The dying flames seemed to dissipate into the moon's ethereal glow.

"Hey, Shinji... about what happened..." he trailed off, hoping that he would understand.

"Yeah?"

"I know that she's alive and all... but is Yamagishi alright?" he bowed his head in shame, "What happened after we ran away?"

"I... I told her to climb into Unit-01..." with regret thick in his voice, he continued, "she got hurt, because I wasn't strong enough."

Kensuke stared at the solemn look on Shinji's downcast face; but before he continue questioning him, faint movements can be heard through the tall grass.

"H-hey! Who are you all!" Kensuke raised the branch he had in defense.

"Shinji Ikari?" a hoarse voice came from the numerous shadows that plagued the otherwise empty figures of the land.

Shinji stood up and understood.

"NERV public security and intelligence bureau. In accordance to clause eight of the public security act," the same hoarse voice said, "we are to escort you back to NERV headquarters."

--

The young Eva pilot sat in the middle of a dark room with a single, almost omnipotent light beaming onto his head. He looked down at his shoes with a somber expression on his face. 'So all I could do... is come back here?'

Another light appeared behind him, and he instinctively looked back. He saw the melancholy smile of Misato Katsuragi, who seemed both relieved and disappointed with the appearance of Shinji, her charge. She walked towards the boy and stood in front of him, her mood seeming to deepened at the forlorn face of Shinji Ikari.

"Welcome back." She folded her arms in front him.

"Uh... yeah." He didn't know what to say to her.

"So how does it feel to run away? Do you feel better now that you left for two days?" There was not a hint of anger in her crystalline voice. Simply curiosity.

"I'm sorry..."

"Let me ask you this... do you want to pilot the Eva?" Shinji's expression to this question told her she hit the right spot.

Shinji's hand clenched into the fabric of his slacks. "It doesn't matter... I told you before... I don't pilot it because I want to." Shinji cast his eyes onto her boots, as he can no longer look at her deep brown eyes. "But, even if I said I didn't want to, it wouldn't change a thing."

His face became almost sardonic at his small speech. "I'm the only pilot you have, right? Everyone would be trouble if I didn't pilot it, right?" He closed his eyes and resigned with his answer, "I do it because everyone tells me to--"

"I'm not interested in what everybody else thinks! I'm asking you!" Her anger finally rising past her attempt at composure.

Shinji stared into Misato's eyes for what seemed to be hours, finally Misato's anger faulted and she regained her composure.

"Shinji... go back to your uncle's house."

Shinji raised his head and eyebrows in surprise.

"It's for your own good. At this rate, you'll end up dead. Besides... a pilot as insecure as yourself is nothing but trouble to us."

Shinji stared at her in shock and considered her hurtful and truth-filled words.

"It hurts to lose a pilot, of course.. We'll just write Unit-01's system for Rei.."

Misato turned to leave and looked back at her former charge, "I'm sorry, we shouldn't have ask so much from you. Just forget about us, forget about Eva. Go back to your old life." With a last look of her charge, she turned and left. "Goodbye, Shinji."

"Misa--" the door closed, separating them. "Misato..."

--

"The third child will depart Tokyo-3 tomorrow," Ritsuko stated as she walked down one of the many corridors of NERV Headquarters with commander Ikari and Rei Ayanami, "Are you sure this is alright?"

Having received silence, she continued, "But... the Marduk Agency hasn't announced a fourth child yet. We don't have a replacement pilot for Unit-01."

Rei walked silently behind the two and remained passive as always.

"This is one of the scenarios we predicted." Gendo Ikari continued with his explanation, "It's simplicity itself to foresee what a person will do when they're cornered."

"If worse comes to worst, we can bring him back and brainwash him... but then there'd be no way of telling what difficulties he had have synching with the Evangelion."

"In that case, we'll just rewrite the Unit-01 data for Rei."

Rei continued walking, except for a slight change in her eye's gaze, she remained the same.

Ritsuko stared ahead of her and replied, "Yes, sir."

--

"WHAT!" yelled a rather angry jock, "You mean you just let them take Ikari away!"

"What was I suppose to do? This was NERV public security and intelligence we're talking about, these guys are pros!"

Despite Touji's anger, he could only trust his friend's words. He sat down on his seat abruptly and thought it over, before finally deciding Kensuke was right. "Yeah, I guess you do have a point." He crossed his arms and kept his irritated appearance before picking his nose and rising as quickly as he sat down.

Surprised, Kensuke fell out of his chair. "Don't scare me like that."

"Kensuke, I'm outta here!"

"Huh! Where are you going?"

In the back of the room, Mayumi sat in her seat, waiting impatiently for the arrival of Shinji Ikari. It was already in the middle of school, but he may be late, she reasoned. With all her anxiety, she missed Hikari walking towards her desk, who she apologized to for ignoring. Hikari sat down in the empty seat next to Mayumi's and, with her ever present warm smile, handed her some papers.

"Are these--"

"Yup! These are the hand-outs for Shinji, since he won't be showing up today, I though you might deliver them to his house."

Mayumi took the papers and placed them into her shoulder bag in a rush before hugging her friend and leaving the room. Hikari hadn't planned on letting the girl leave the school that early, but since technically it wasn't against the rules to leave during the lunch break, she resigned and watched the obviously love-stricken girl leave. She placed her elbow on the desk and rested the chin on her palm.

"I wonder if I'll ever meet someone like Ikari..."

--

Shinji walked down the corridors of NERV with a sad expression on his face. He should be happy. He was leaving the place that had made him face his bastard of a father, the place that shoved him inside of Eva to face giant monsters, and the place that had placed Mayumi in such immediate danger. He should be happy, but he wasn't. He lifted his gaze as he met the familiar face of someone he barely recognized.

"Ritsuko..?"

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi uncrossed her arms and walked over to the young boy. "I have a message from your father. He appreciates your efforts on behalf of NERV."

Shinji was taken aback. "That's all?"

"Yes..." she said softly as she began walking way, "Take care, Shinji."

"W-wait!" Ritsuko looked back at the young Ikari, "Where is, Misato..? She's not going to say goodbye?"

"Now, Shinji... your not a member of NERV anymore, I can't tell you anything. No matter how inconsequential." She regard him one more time, and with much more sadness added, "Goodbye."

--

Misato sat at her dinner table, idly taking in the lonely appearance of her apartment. She looked beside her to find her only companion, Pen-Pen. The genetically altered warm water penguin that had occupied her home for the past years. It was the best company she had for so long, but the appearance of Shinji had made the place a bit more... bearable. She slowly lifted herself off the floor and stretched a bit.

"I guess I should go to work... I'm already way late as it is..." She placed her red jacket on and walked towards the door. 'I suppose it's better this way... If piloting Eva only makes him suffer, then why should he?'

She grabbed the penguin and cradled it in her arms. "Okey-doke, I'm off then." She turned back at a sudden sound at the door.

"Yes?" She looked out the door to see the stunned face of two oddly familiar people.

"Umm..." Touji smiled dumbly at the purple-haired goddess that stood before him. "Ugh... umm..."

Kensuke pushed his glasses upwards as they were falling down. "We're Aida and Suzuhara... from Ikari's class."

Both of their thoughts centered around the how lucky Ikari was.

"Oh yeah-- you two were about to get smushed by the Eva, weren't you?"

Both blushed heavily and kept those stupid grins plastered on their faces. "Umm, yes ma'am, we're sorry!"

Touji took the initiative. "Uh... we had concerns, seein' as how Ikari has been absent an all. So we came by to check how he's doing."

'Shinji... you idiot!' Misato mentally scorned the boy. "He... left."

"What!" they both yelled in unison, "He's leaving?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so..."

As soon as Misato finished her sentence, she noticed someone else walking... no... almost running towards them. She took a closer look and recognized who it was. It was the same girl that had climbed into the entry plug of Unit-01. The way she was running towards them, she must have overheard them.

"Fuhh... fuhh... He's... leaving?" her voice dripped with woe, "but why?"

Misato regained her composure and looked at the dark-haired girl before her. "I can't really say..."

"Is he fired because I got into the Eva, too?" her eyes were wide with panic, "I-I,.."

Misato placed her hand on her shoulder and kept the penguin cradled in her free arm. "Calm down.. I'm sorry, but he's going back to where he came fro--"

"Where is he! I can't let him leave, he doesn't even know that I'm sorry!" her russet colored eyes pleaded against Misato's deep brown.

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm the reason he disobeyed you! If I hadn't had been there..." she wiped her tears and looked back at Misato's eyes. "He just wanted to protect me..."

The eye contact did not break for at least a minute before Misato grabbed the girl's arm and started running towards the nearest exit. Mayumi held on for dear life and followed her towards their destination. Touji and Kensuke looked on dumfounded at what just happened. The two stared at each other and soon mutually decided to run after the two.

Misato jumped inside of her blue sport's car, practically tossing Mayumi inside of the back seat. Forgoing the seatbelt, she speed off, taking corner's at a high speed velocity that would put any professional racer to shame. The station where Shinji would be was not too far off, but it would take even more reckless driving to get Mayumi were she wanted to go. Thankfully, she had Misato.

--

The two NERV escorts held Shinji in front of the train as it arrived, before it's doors finally opened to accept him. Shinji stood in front of the door, and saw his old boring life flash before his eyes. The life that was leading nowhere, and threatened to take him from everyone he had met in these recent days. It threatened to take him away from Mayumi. And so, he hesitated.

"What's the matter," one of the two men questioned, "hurry up."

Shinji stared at the cold steel inside and stood still, hoping he would be saved from his fate. Kami, as it seemed smiled upon him that day, as he heard his named called out.

"Shinji!"

He looked over to see Misato holding Pen-Pen in her arms, sweating and huffing at the speed it took to get her here. "Misato..."

Misato waved off the NERV security and told them to leave, as she would take care of everything. She looked over at Shinji, and held her warm water penguin tighter to her chest. "I forgot to tell you something, Shinji..." she turned the confused bird towards Shinji and continued, "You see, Pen-Pen... He was being used in an experiment where I use to work. They were about to put him to sleep, but I stopped them and took him in."

Shinji looked at the bird and then into Misato's deep brown eyes. The purple-haired woman continued, "Do you know why I took him in? I felt sorry for him." Misato stepped a bit closer to Shinji and looked into his unwavering eyes. "There was that, but.. I've always lived alone. I thought it might be nice to have someone who'd be there, waiting for me when I came home late at night, tired from work..."

Her eyes softened and a small smile grace her lips, "I thought it might be nice to have a family."

Shinji raised his eyebrows ,but clutched at the straps of his duffel bag to keep his emotions in check. He bit his lip and waited for Misato to speak again.

"I'm not the kind of person who's got it together enough to... live with a stranger out of sympathy, or because it's my job. I didn't mean to... forget that you must feel the same way." Misato used her free hand to gently caress the side of his face. "If it wasn't for her, I might have not remembered how it is to lose someone, before you really get to know them." She forced memories of what her father did for her aside, concentrating on the boy in front of her.

"Who..?" Misato moved to her left and allowed Mayumi to appear.

She had tears stinging the sides of her eyes, and the sight of Shinji caused the pain to increase. She ran towards the boy and flung herself at him. Her tears ran freely down his shirt and her hair. She kept repeating "don't leave me, don't leave me!" until her voice cracked under the strain and reached it's limit, which, in her current mental state, was not too hard to reach.

Shinji held her, but did not know how to react. He had only know the girl for about a day, and yet she crying over his potential departing? Over him? He couldn't understand it, but he could appreciate it. He gingerly placed his arm around her waist and held her until she stopped sobbing. Finally, after an eternity, she looked at him, her eyes were brighter and livelier than the last time he had the pleasure of gazing upon them.

She stepped back and with the tears still at the corner's of her eyes, she gave the young Ikari five across the face. It wasn't by any means, a hard slap, but it made sure that Shinji got the message clear. Misato watched as the melodrama flowed.

"Mayumi..?"

"If you ever try to leave again, I won't forgive you!" she kept her arm across her chest, clenching her fist at the stinging feeling.

Mayumi's face, while tear streaked, showed the feelings of anger and betrayal that she had felt when she heard of his impending departure. A strand of hair fell over her face and was soaked by the small amount of tears that had rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Mayumi... I ignored my promise to you..." He couldn't look at her, he kept his stance and looked at the floor.

"If you ever," she nearly chocked at the feeling in her chest, "ever forget it, I'll..."

Her voice trailed off. What could she say to such betrayal? She barely met him, but there was a bond that had developed between them, she wasn't even aware of it's strength, it's depth, until she saw his empty seat at school. Yes, she was hopelessly maudlin, but she didn't deny it. With a quick push forward she wrapped her arms around his neck and stopped her tears-- she couldn't cry all the time, she reminded herself.

Shinji, once again, held the sable haired girl awkwardly-- he was not used to such a thing. Her frame, like her heart, was fragile and delicate; how did she become like this? He didn't know, but decided that he'd be with her, in whatever way she wanted him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Misato stepped next to Shinji, "Shinji... what happened between you two?"

"I..." he looked at Mayumi, but her head was still firmly placed on his shoulder, "I can't say right now... but Misato... I don't wanna go back. Not to where I was..."

Misato smiled at him and, no longer able to control herself, she wrapped her arms around both of the children and sighed in content. "Let's go back... to our home."

It was at this time that the train sped off and a taxi rushed to the station. Touji and Kensuke ran out and watched the train leave, both of their faces dulled in disappointment.

"We're too late..." Kensuke said, his glasses reflecting the light of the sun.

"Wait... Ikari!" Touji pointed at the sight before him.

Both looked as Misato hugged the two children, Shinji being directly the center of attention. Even if Shinji didn't appear to have a smile on his face, Touji and Kensuke looked on in disbelief. They clutched the gate that kept civilians away from the trains, dumbfounded.

"Don't they have any shame..?" Touji commented jealously. Kensuke just watched with deep interest.

Misato let go of them to give the two some much needed privacy, "I'll see you there... you can come too, Mayumi."

Mayumi didn't respond at first, but Shinji's gentle stroking of her long hair brought her back to reality, "S-sure."

--

To be continued

--

Author's Notes: Edited This has been slightly edited so it can look and be more... well... readable and understandable. Not too much, though.

Well, it took me awhile to think of what to write, but I think it came out alright, mediocre at worst. As for Mayumi maudlin ness, that will have to be explained in later chapters where you find out about her origins and her parents. The promise that Shinji made to Mayumi should be obvious enough to be guessed with an archer's accuracy.

Her character is intentionally fragile, but by no means weak. I want her to be.. a modern earth mother-- not in the sense of an being omnipresent, like an earth goddess, but more in her personality: self-sacrifing, forbearing, accepting everything, forgiving everybody, and being inclined to be attracted to failures and the weak, but in her dual aspect, always finding strength in adversity. This is why her relationship with Ikari is so.. natural in sense. (I know it happened quick, but bear with me.)

This by no means is a 'Return to Womb' kind of story. If your unaware of what that is, it's an archetype which refers to a situation where an individual, feeling inadequate to the life challenge, longs (consciously or unconsciously) for a state of peace and security. Even though I want Mayumi to be an earth mother, Shinji will not find complete solace in her affection and will therefore go through his own search for answers. I want to mix the archetypical themes 'The search' and 'Initiation'. To elaborate, I want Shinji to have both a quest for his happiness, love, and wisdom and several 'rites of passage' to have him cross the boundaries that separate him from his boyhood to manhood while avoiding defeat or annihilation.

I hope to later explore Mayumi's thanatopsis as well, but I can't be specific about anything, besides the motivations behind it, without ruining the story.

I may talk big, but can I pull it off without making the story a failure? I suppose, we will see.

PS: I do plan to revise the entire series once I become better at this.

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy.

Thank you for all the reviews and your honesty.

This is the third chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

After Mayumi finished composing herself and her hair, she let go of Shinji and apologized for her little outburst. To have such a catharsis in public was so out of character for her that it almost made her question her state of mind. Of course, Shinji accepted her apology and invited her to his home for some dinner, ending her short attempted questioning her mental composure.

The three began walking away from the station when it suddenly hit her-- Shinji looked nothing like his mother. It seemed rude to ask if they were blood related, but she had know. With some effort, she managed a way to answer her question without being too obvious.

"So... umm... Mrs. Ikari..." she let the pause gather, but the purple-haired woman only kept her hand on top of Shinji's head, "How long have you lived with Shinji?"

Misato finally caught wind of Mayumi's question, also taking in the 'Mrs. Ikari' with relative ease, "Well, not long really. He just moved in with me," she paused as she decided that gentle teasing would lift the mood up, "But the Mrs. Ikari part won't happen until Shinji finally puts out." She couldn't suppress her chuckle when Mayumi's breath seemed to catch in her throat. "Kidding, kidding."

Shinji, to his credit, did not blush at Misato's gestures or when her hand traveled down to his waist when she mentioned him putting out-- he simply cursed the angels for not attacking at the right moment. After the little joke, he couldn't look at Mayumi, but decided light laughter would ease her mind.

Mayumi's humorous expression ceased when she saw the opening she was looking for, "So your not... his mother?" Her voice seemed to be.. hopeful.

"Noo, I'm just his guardian..." she paused to regard the person to her left, "legally, it means I still have a shot, I suppose."

Shinji finally broke his silence, "Stop teasing me!" he whined.

"I can't help it! It's so much fun."

They arrived at Misato's car and Shinji, being the stupid chivalrous kind, opened the door for his dark-haired companion. With a shy smile, he let her inside. Such an act made Mayumi blush and Misato smile to herself.

The moment didn't last long, for as soon as Mayumi climbed inside, a voice range out, "Ikari!"

All three regarded the voice, and much to Shinji's annoyance, they were greeted with the sight of Kensuke and Touji.

"Ooh... It's you guys... What're you doing here..?"

Touji's usually aggravated expression was replaced with one of nervousness, "Ughh..."

"Hey, right... why did you leave class and go to Ikari's place..?" Touji shot Kensuke a death glare for his question.

"Don't try and whine ya way outta dis!" he raised his fist, and to everyone's surprise, did not try and punch Ikari. Instead he pointed to himself, "Ikari! Belt me one!"

"Huh?" Shinji stood befuddled by the jock's change in demeanor.

"I talked to my sister, ya know... and..." his embarrassment kept rising, "My sister... she said that..."

Kensuke worked what little information he gathered and came to a sudden, but accurate conclusion, "I think he's trying to say his sister chewed him out for hitting you like that."

Mayumi's eyes went wide and frowned-- that was the specific brute that attacked Shinji? If he was the only one, she wouldn't have to break the other boy's glasses. Slowly, she felt like rising from her seat and beating some sense into his thick skull. What she heard next stopped the potential charge of assault and battery.

"I don' like goin' around owning people. So, I wanna square the books," he once again pointed at himself, "c'mon! Hurry up and belt me one."

'Man... all he has to do is say that's he's sorry. He can't even say that, can he?' Kensuke shook his head at this.

Shinji sweat-dropped and raise his fist weakly. "Okay. But just one punch."

Touji shook his head enthusiastically, "Cool. No holding back, ok?"

Mayumi bit the knuckle of her index finger as she looked on from the back of the car. It certainly did take a turn for the better, but she was still uncertain of what the outcome would be. Something seemed off.

"Nahh..." Shinji turned his back and walked back to Misato's car, "I'd rather not."

"Why the hell not!"

He turned around and, with a lopsided grin, he said, "I'd rather you owe me one. It'll be more fun that way."

"Ya rotten, rat bastard-CHICKEN SHIT!"

Shinji turned around and started laughing as Touji chased him, knowing that everything was better now. With a rare smile on his face, they continued to playfully hit each other.

"C'mon here, I'll fix that attitude of yer's!"

Mayumi got out of the car and watched the scene in confusion. She moved a hand through her long hair and looked at Shinji's guardian and found the face only a mother could have at watching her son, prideful and unashamed. Although it did sadden her, she looked back at Shinji and couldn't help but smile at it. Laughter and a smile definitely suited him better than a sorrowful, placid expression.

--

Mayumi walked inside of the dark house with little or no care for it's occupants. The house's interior was rather bleak and barren, but clean. She walked past the large sofas and tables littered around the living room, and reached the stairs. The stairs creaked and groaned at the ninety pounds of added weight until finally she reached to the top of the stairs; and looked back down as the stairs groaned again.

She let out a breath of relief-- it was only his brown-haired companion.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Shinji!" she held a hand over her heart and sighed again.

"S-sor--"

"Don't worry, it's ok." Her smiled stopped Shinji in his place. Small gestures brought about such a change in Ikari's expression, it was almost comical.

Mayumi walked down the corridor in front of her, taking note of the slight smell of sunflowers that had enveloped the polished walls of the hallway. She found the door she had been looking for and knocked on it gently. Shinji stood behind her and waited nervously.

"Open up! It's me!" Mayumi said between sporadic knocks at the wooden door.

"Mayumi?" the voice that came from behind the door was almost as pleasant as the smell that occupied the hallway, "Is that you?"

"Yeah, open up, Sis!"

The door opened to reveal a short girl, about eleven to twelve years old, with the same long sable-colored hair of Mayumi that reached the small of her back. Shinji looked in amazement at the emerald green depths of her eyes, endless in the childlike innocence he had long lost. The only word he could find for such the young child was 'adorable'.

The young girl finally took notice of the boy standing behind her older sister.

"Umm... Hello."

"Ugh... Hi..." Shinji managed out weakly.

Mayumi caught onto the discomforted aura surrounding the two and smirked at the situation. Her little sister was never very convivial, and she knew that her sibling would be just as shy and awkward around other people as she was, but she was certain her little sister could get use to Shinji, she just had to. It didn't seem natural for the two to get along.

"Shinji, this is my little sister, Aiko."

"Hello, it's nice to meet you..." she walked over to Mayumi and semi-hid herself behind the older Yamagishi.

"Um... likewise," after a brief hesitation he extended his hand towards the girl, "I'm Shinji Ikari."

Aiko looked at the hand as if it might suddenly become hostile and strike at her. Her older sister nudged her forward a bit and tried to hid it as involuntary movement cause by a forced laugh, which wasn't too far from the truth. Understanding, she shook his hand and returned to her position.

"Well, Aiko," Mayumi said as she turned to face her sister, "I was invited to dinner at Shinji's place and I want you to come too."

The uneasiness in her eyes did little to hide her feelings towards the proposition, "I don't really know..." Aiko's feet shifted on the cool hardwood.

In a rather bold move, at least for him, Shinji looked the small angel in the eyes and flashed her a shy smile, "It's ok. I'd love it if you came to dinner. You are Mayumi's little sister, after all."

A small blush graced over her cheeks, "Mayumi, are you sure you want me to go?"

"Of course," said Mayumi. She placed her hand over the top of her sister's head and playfully ruffled her hair, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

A small bell seemed to ring inside of the younger Yamagishi's head, it's resonating 'ding' going off every time Mayumi spoke the boys' name. Shinji... Shinji... something about that name seemed to cling to the back of her head. With a small gasp, Aiko looked at Shinji with an impish smile that, judging by her earlier bashfulness, would seem out-of-character.

"Mayumi! Is this the guy who you got into the robot with?"

Mayumi raised an eyebrow, but then remembered that she had quite a conversation with her little sister about that fated day. She sighed, the side that only Mayumi had the 'pleasure' of knowing was about to introduce herself to the unfortunate pilot of Unit-01. She only hoped the transformation wouldn't frighten him, or make him believe she was bipolar.

"Yes..."

Aiko's eyes shined through her emerald irises, "Sooo... your my sister's boyfriend, aren't you?"

Shinji seemed to be having a heart attack of the worse kind.

Mayumi's facial hue seemed to challenge the scarlet cloth of her sister's sundress.

Aiko just smiled mischievously.

"I-It's not like that!" stammered a blushing Shinji.

"We're just friends, Aiko. Quit teasing!"

In all actuality, Mayumi had no idea where she stood with the pilot of Unit-01. They had share quite an... emotive moment after the angel attack. Though it might have been just a caring act between new friends, she hoped it was something else. Not something romantic. Just something else.

At first, Shinji was embarrassed about the comment, but then he was simply amazed at the shy girl's sudden personality transformation. She was so timid at first, but now she was just like Misato, which wasn't a good or bad thing, in his opinion. He decided that teasing him was something that he was great at bringing out in people. With a defeated sigh, he rubbed the back of his head and apologized to Mayumi for reasons only known to him.

Aiko smiled cutely at the brown haired boy and hugged her sister tightly. Mayumi was special to her, and she considered her a complete blood relative, even if they did not share the same father. It was because of this that she had grown worried about her happiness. In the few days that she had been in Tokyo-3, she had never once mentioned anyone as her friend or the slightest indication that she was talking to anybody. That was until she told her about that giant robot incident. The way she described Shinji didn't seem to fit the meek boy that she described inside of the robot, maybe he was like her?

He seemed more like the guy she had described after the fight. There was no way that the boy that blushed like a tomato, after she had called him Mayumi's boyfriend, was the same one that had fought the giant monster. Almost like a contradiction of personalities.

"Just kidding," she smirked slyly, "I know you probably like to play hard to get."

If it was at all possible, Mayumi's cheeks flushed an even brighter red. Shinji, of course, stayed silent.

After of few seconds of arguing and banter, Mayumi turned around and smiled weakly at Shinji.

"Well, thanks for walking me up here... and thanks for not getting mad at the bane of my life," she said, placing her palm on the top of Aiko's head.

"You know you love me!" Aiko responded, while sticking her tongue out at her.

"Anyway... tell Misato thanks for the ride. And that she can pick us up whenever you guys are ready."

"Sure. We have to go to NERV, so it might be awhile."

With a finally round of farewells, Shinji left the house and got into Misato's car before speeding off into the distance. Mayumi and Aiko went into their room and closed the door behind them, leaving the empty white corridors of the cold house to their secrecy.

--

"So that's what it's like when you laugh, Shinji."

Misato and Shinji walked down one of the many corridors of NERV headquarters. It had taken quite a bit for Misato to finally stop teasing her charge about him going into a girl's house. And it seemed that it would start up, once again.

"Huh..? What do you mean?"

"You know, come to think of it, that's the first time I've ever seen you smile." Misato's jovial smile was a pleasant change from the angry and austere demeanor of NERV's Head Tactician. "You're pretty cute, cuter than you'd think, anyway. I can see why Mayumi took such a shine with you."

"Stop kidding me, okay?" he asked slightly annoyed.

Both suddenly came to a halt at the sight before them. In front of them stood Rei Ayanami, the enigmatic pilot of Eva Unit-00. Her usually unfaltering eyes wavered and went wide as she gazed upon the Commander's son. She regained her composure as quickly as she had lost it and addressed her, apparently still, fellow pilot.

"So... you didn't quit." Her voice seemed as monotonous as the last time they talked.

"Oh... yeah. I came back." Shinji laughed nervously, he didn't know how to talk to her.

Rei began to walk away, "I could have... piloted Unit-01 perfectly well."

Shinji looked back at her with mild shame. 'Did I say something wrong?' He wasn't mad at her somewhat hurtful words, he just felt like he had caused her annoyance. It was after she started walking away, that he really noticed that she was no longer bandaged. He took some solace in that. At least his piloting allowed her to heal. He shivered a bit at the memory of holding her in his arms, her blood staining his hands.

"I-I'm glad... that your okay now, Ayanami."

Rei stopped in her tracks and regarded the comment in her mind. Not knowing how to react to his words, she turned around and faced him. Her facial expression remained the same, but her eyes seemed to tell Shinji that she was questioning him.

"Umm..."

"Why?" she was cold.

"Huh?"

"Why are you glad?" her monotonous voice pierced his head.

This question caught him off-guard. "Why..? I don't know. I guess I was just worried, since you seemed to be in a lot of pain, when you..." he lost whatever confidence he had in himself, under her the crimson red of her irises. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said anything..."

Misato watched on with extreme curiosity, but stayed out of the conversation.

Rei nodded, even though her question was still unanswered, she thought it wiser to not waste her time on such matters and left. Shinji stared at her retreating form and sighed. He really didn't know how to act around women.

"Don't think badly of her, Shinji," she looked at her charge with a small smirk, "she's just a bit different."

Shinji couldn't help but agree.

--

Shinji looked up at the hundreds of scaffolds and catwalks that were inside of the temporary base. Large girders and support beams were symmetrically placed, covered by large tents and concrete; workers shifted to and fro carrying thick cables and wires half their size towards unknown locations. The sounds of heavy machinery doing their task surrounded the area while technicians and scientists discussed and worked, an almost mock symphony of machine and man.

This interested Shinji heavily, especially since he had no idea why he was there.

Sure, this was at the base of the mountain where he had fought the giant tentacled angel, but what did his presence matter in such a place? He was only at NERV to 'defeat the angels'.

He pushed the hardhat against his head as it tipped over his eyes. Feeling fatigue taking over him, he walked over to a table with several pots of coffee and poured himself some of the dark, bitter fluid. NERV, aside from it's technology against the angels, was cheap when it came to the little things. Shinji took a seat near the table and drifted in thought.

The pilot looked up as a technician came over and took some of the bitter fluid and grimaced at the taste. He looked at Shinji and grinned at the young pilot.

"Your the pilot of the Evangelion, aren't you?"

He raised his eyebrow at the unexpected conversation, but went along with it, "Y-yeah. I'm Sh--"

"We all know who you are. Your quite a pilot, you know? Quite a show you put on."

"I don't really think so..."

"Well, you did really damage the Eva the last time you fought, but yeah, you killed it, didn't you?" The technician sipped the contents of the mug and flinched at the aftertaste.

Images of the apathetic Katsuragi flashed through his mind, eventually ending with the resonating sound of her hand making hard contact with his cheek. He sighed and brushed the images away from his conscious thoughts. Tough love, he guessed.

A gruff voice came from the top of a catwalk, "Hey! Get back to work!"

The technician in front of Shinji sighed as well and extended his, eventually Shinji shook his hand. "Keep it up." He placed the mug on the table and went back into the depths of the mechanical grid of pipes and beams.

Shinji looked at the center of the large temporary building and gazed at the large body of the defeated angel. It was covered by a thick red material he couldn't exactly name. Seemed to be plastic, but he couldn't be sure.

"This... this is the angel I defeated..?"

Taking notice of the teenager, Ritsuko allowed herself a small smile. She was right, after all. "I knew it. I knew you'd come back, Shinji."

Misato stood in the same makeshift room that her friend was in. She regarded Ritsuko's comment and looked outside the door to find Shinji looking up at the downed form of his defeated enemy. She looked back at her friend. "What do you mean, you knew it?"

"For most children, their first self-motivated act is to rebel against their guardian," she recited sagely, "It's a validation of their own existence, as well as a test of their guardian." She continued to type on one of the many keyboards in front of her and looked at the center screen of the three monitors in front of her, "So-- you made it safely through the rite of passage."

Misato looked at her friend annoyingly, "Well, you just know everything..?" Misato lead against the cool wall and let her hardhat clack with the metal surface, "Your just bitching me out, aren't you?"

"Oh, I'm just speaking statistically."

"And... statistically speaking, did you get any data from Mr. Enemy here?"

"See for yourself," she backed away from her screen to allow Misato to see a blinking 601.

"What's that mean?"

"That's the code number for insoluble."

"So you have no idea?"

"Yes... except we did learn one thing... The angel's individual wave-form pattern, despite the differenced in it's core component material, resembles the human genome by 99.89."

Misato's eyes sharpened at that, "But that's... the same as the Evas.."

Shinji had been listening to what had been said, but paid little care of it. Something else had caught his attention-- his father. Not too far off, a large platform held a severely cracked red half-orb, the same he one he shoved his progressive knife into. His father was inspecting it while a slightly taller white haired man stood next to him, just as observent as his father. Two scientist talked to him, probably regarding the condition of the orb itself. Shinji stared at his father's face, a frown appearing as he rested his gaze on the orb and the scientist stopped talking.

"It's unsalvageable"

"The damage was too severe."

"The project for Unit-04 cannot go as planned"

The rants went on and on.

'I came back, but he acts like it was a given. He hasn't said a thing,' he became angrier with every word he thought, 'Why? It's not worth his time to talk to me?' His stream of thought was halted as his father's hands folded behind his back, showing recovering burn marks on his palms.

"Burns..?"

A set of slender fingers snapped onto his shoulders and a playful voice entered his ears, "What'cha lookin' at Shin-chan?"

Shinji's head clanged against the steel girder he was hiding behind. "Aahh..!" he began rubbing his head, "Geeezz... don't sneak up on me like that!"

Misato rubbed his forehead, not really soothingly, just for appearances, "Not my fault you're timid..." she looked in the direction that Shinji was looking towards and smirked, "So you were looking at your dad, huh?"

"I-I was just wondering why his hands were burned..."

"Burned..?" she looked back inside of the room where her friend was, "Hey, Ritsuko! You know anything about the Commander's hands getting burned?"

"It happened before you two got here..." a small scowl crossed her face, but disappeared as quickly as it came, "Unit-00 went berserk during an activation test... you've heard of it, right?"

Shinji's face sobered a bit at the image of a bleeding Ayanami crossed his mind, "Yes, ma'am..."

_NERV HQ, #2 TEST BAY_

_(Unit-00 Activation Test)_

_32 days earlier_

_"Pulse back flow!" screamed a short-haired technician, "Rejection starting in the Central Nerve Elements!"_

_The enormous yellow humanoid machine shook and trembled against the restraints that held it to the wall. It's neck arched forward, stretching and straining forward, almost as if the wall itself threatened it's very existence. The wall finally crumbled under the tremendous power of Eva Unit-00, sending debris flying over the activation test room._

_"Suspend contact! Open all circuits through #6!" Ritsuko shouted at Maya._

_The short-haired tech began to furiously type in the commands, only to fail, "Signal rejected! It's not working!"_

_The yellow beast grabbed and hurled the restraints on it's arms towards the thick orange glass that separated the staff of NERV from the testing area. It seemed that it had lost it's sanity, it clutched it's head and seemed to be trying to pull it's head off. The yellow neck armor cracked at the upward forced applied to it's head._

_"Unit-00 is out of control!"_

_Gendo Ikari finally spoke up, "Abort test! Cut the power!"_

_A large cable fell from the back of the Eva Unit and landed at it's feet, effectively cutting off external power supplies. The yellow Eva stopped in it's tracks for a brief moment. It's singular optical eye lit up once again as it regain it's power and stopped it's assault on itself._

_"Unit-00 has switched to Auxiliary power!" yelled a panicked Maya, "Thirty-five seconds to total shutdown!"_

_A large yellow fist collided with the orange glass and steel panel that kept them safe. The concrete, glass, and steel shuddered under the power of Unit-00, it's structure quickly giving way._

_"Commander! Stay back-- It's dangerous!" yelled Ritsuko at the stoic man before her._

_The powerful hands of Unit-00 shattered the glass in their sanctuary with two more strikes._

_Maya looked at her flashing computer screen and her eyes went wide, "Auto-ejecting activating!"_

_Finally showing his panic, Gendo yelled, "NO!"_

_A section of the yellow monstrosity's back flew out, allowing a thin cylinder shoot out of the Eva. The tube hit the wall with a resonating echo and rocketed away from the insane Eva. The Eva clutched it's head once again and, ignoring the projectile that had left it's body, faced towards the nearest way and drove it's fist into it._

_"Wire cage! Special bakelite-- Hurry!"_

_Sections of the wall opened and shot out red liquid onto the berserk behemoth, slowing it's fist. Pinned down, it lurched forward and slammed it's head onto the wall until the final seconds of power gave way to time. It's sleek body arched forward at it's failure._

_The cylinder collided with the ceiling and finally came crashing down near the trounced monster. Gendo Ikari ran from the safety of the test bay and reached the location of the downed Entry Plug. With a grunt he placed his hands over the super-heated handles of the plug. His glasses landed on the floor with a lost 'crack'._

_With strenuous amounts of force, he forced open the hatch._

_"Rei!"_

_No response from the limp body on the throne of the soul._

_"Rei! Are you alright!"_

_Her deep azure hair moved as air moved inside of the plug, once again. Slowly, she lifted her head, blood dripping from her forehead and traveling down her pale cheeks, and looked at the Commander. Registering the question in her head, she responded weakly, "Yes, sir"_

"The Commander," continued Ritsuko, "... He saved Rei, by forcing open the super heated hatch with his bare hands."

Misato digested the information with surprise. Shinji couldn't really take in the information well.

'Dad... My dad saved Ayanami... He burned himself to save her..?'

--

Shinji sat on his bed with his arm draped over his forehead and another clutching his S-DAT, letting the flowing sounds of classical music fill his head. These past few days were really starting to weigh him down, and the situation with his father wasn't getting him any rest either. Memories of Ayanami's voice constantly flashed through his mind. 'Why?' her expressionless voice echoed in his mind, 'Why are you glad?'

He honestly didn't know. What was he to her? What was she to him? He didn't want to think about such matters now, but that didn't mean the question would disappear. Then he remembered: Mayumi! Misato was suppose to pick up Mayumi and Aiko after they were done at NERV!

Shinji turned off his S-DAT and nearly jumped out of his bed. In his rush, he opened Misato's door and was greeted with an image that was both pleasant, for obvious reasons, and incredibly awkward. His entire body seemed to flush at the sight of Misato changing into more comfortable clothing, needless to say, he ended up catching an eyeful. Misato squealed in surprised and covered herself, though it wouldn't be long before Shinji found out why she _really_ was so bashful.

Shinji stammered an apology and closed the door, his eyes wide in both appreciation and fright. 'W-What was... was that a scar..?' He stumbled into his room and covered his head with his pillow and kept apologizing to Misato, despite her absence.

Misato, for her part, was not as awkward about it. She hadn't exactly _planned _to give him a show, but she was a bit more... okay with it. Putting on her blouse, she walked over towards Shinji's door and sighed. 'He must have seen it...' she thought sadly.

With a swift motion, she opened the door to find Shinji's head buried in the confines of his pillow. Misato sat down onto the bed and patted his head softly and whispered "it's ok, it's ok," to him. His reaction seemed... odd for a boy his age, but she knew he was quite different as well. She had seen his files and everything that was within it's pages; his troubled past, his psychological developments, and possibilities of future changes. Sufficed to say, she was not shock by his reaction, just saddened by it. But after some effort, she finally managed to calm him down and sit him next to her.

"I-I'm sorry, Misato. I didn't mean to..."

"It's ok, Shin-chan," she soothed, "it was bound to happen anyway."

He stayed quite. She already had a good guess as to why.

"You saw it, didn't you?" tears stung at the corners of her eyes-- she hoped he didn't notice. That scar was more than just a permanent smudge on her beauty, but a reminder of her own troubled life.

Shinji suddenly had the urge to run away, but his legs would not respond to his mind's commands. His mind raced and tried to find a way to avoid the imminent conversation. Shinji swallow the lump of guilt that had developed and lowered his eyes to his shoes. Looking into her eyes wasn't something he could do right now.

Misato ran her fingers through his mop of brown hair, "It was something I got, during the Second Impact."

Silence was her only response, so she continued, "My father... he saved me. I really didn't understand why..." She looked down she noticed a frown appear on Shinji's at the mention of "father." She thought it best not to continue and got up slowly, running her slender fingers through her purple hair. At first, she didn't want to talk about it, but once she mentioned it, a floodgate cracked at it's foundations. Couldn't be helped-- she wanted to talk about it, but she wouldn't bother Shinji with it, after all she was _his_ guardian.

She started walking away when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Misato..." he was once again calling upon his small fountain of courage, "I know I shouldn't say anything but... your not any less pretty because of it..."

There was an eerie silence in the room. Shinji bowed his head in regret. Misato just stared at the boy.

She walked over to Shinji and wrapped her arms around him. Shinji, to his credit, did not die of a nosebleed, nor did he runaway-- he just did not move.

Misato let go of him and smiled warmly at Shinji. In his mind's eye, her hair blinked from it's visually sensuous purple, to a familiar brown-- but faded as soon as it came. "Shinji... you better get dinner started," she ruffled his hair a bit, just to try and lighten the mood, "I'll go and get your little girlfriend."

"Misato!" he protested weakly.

"Okay, okay..." she walked to the door and looked back at with a look that Shinji could not make out in the dark, "Thank you, Shinji." He must have been clairvoyant or something; reaffirming to her that she was not hideous because of the mass of flesh. Her little Shinji.

--

Misato walked through the front door with a nauseous Mayumi and Aiko in tow. Both had on what they were wearing earlier, Mayumi with her school uniform and Aiko with a red sundress. Both had the same confused and dazed look on their faces though, Misato obviously showed them her famous driving skills. How she managed to drive on two wheels for that long confused him as well, but right now wasn't the time to question the laws of tire friction.

Both stumbled to the chairs that Shinji pulled out for them and sat down, slowly taking in their surroundings. It was a nice apartment, but Mayumi's eyes were on the hallway; she was looking for something. The black-haired girl sighed in relief, there was more than one room. Her concerns of Shinji sleeping in the same room with the purple-haired beauty had been put to rest. She didn't really think about why it the idea bothered her, but it did.

"Sooo... your Mayumi's little sister?" Misato said, breaking the silence of the home.

"Yes, ma'am. My name is Aiko." She bowed slightly in her chair, but stopped as Misato shook her head.

"No need to be so formal with me. It makes me feel old." She smiled at the mannered young girl.

"Good! I wouldn't be able to keep up the act," she said with an impish smile growing wide on her face, "What's your name?"

"Misato, Misato Katsuragi," she smiled a drunken smile, "I've already had the pleasure of meeting your older sister."

Mayumi turned around from her vision of the hallway and faced the purple-haired woman. "Umm... where is Shinji?"

Misato smiled and took her opening, "Why? Can't stand being apart from him?" she grinned at Mayumi's flushed face, "Well, I'll let you borrow him after I'm tired, deal?"

Mayumi's savior yelled out from the kitchen, obviously embarrassed too, "Quit teasing her, Misato!"

Her response was to stick her tongue out at him. Mayumi looked at her laughing sister and back towards Misato. While they didn't look the same, they were equally childish, she noted. She let out a sigh and let the blush from her face disappear and waited for Shinji's arrival.

Minutes of teasing, which felt like an eternity for Mayumi, from both Aiko and Misato later, Shinji walked out of the kitchen with boxes and containers of instant food. Mayumi grimaced at the sight, she had had nothing but the that same garbage for the past few days. As Misato's and Aiko's smiles widen at the sight, Shinji looked at the contents of the table and frowned.

"Misato... I thought you said you were going to go buy some real food for me to use?"

"Yeah, well... we have been kind of busy, haven't we?" While Misato didn't make any indication of a joke, Mayumi's eyes scanned Shinji.

"Oh right... sorry, Misato. I almost forgot," he said regretfully.

"You almost forgot our moment?" Misato pouted. Of course, unbeknownst to all of them, she was setting them up, "I thought it was special..."

Shinji blushed and his eyes went wide, "M-Misato, we shouldn't talk about that in front of--"

"Shinji, your so mean to me... you know what that does to me!" she pleaded in a rather sensual voice.

Mayumi's back straightened and her breath intake became sharp as a knife's edge. Aiko just watched with ingenuous curiosity.

"What are you talking about, Misato!" A sudden realization crossed his mind, "Oh, very funny." He sat down next to the only available seat, near Aiko.

His blush stayed on his face for quite some time. Meanwhile, Mayumi had kept her eyes on the contents of the tables, making sure not to make eye contact between her and Shinji. Aiko giggled at the silence between the two while Misato clutched at her sides. Teasing those two was so shamefully easy.

After that little scene, everyone ate the instant food and made casual conversation-- about school, personal information, and the few things that NERV could talk about openly. Everyone was amazed at the amount of beer that Misato consumed, except of course for Shinji. He only lived with Misato for a few days, but he quickly adapted to the amount of alcohol that the woman drank. Why and how she could hold down that much would always remain a mystery to him.

Mayumi enjoyed herself as well, after all the teasing was done of course, but the lingering feelings of jealousy still remained. The closeness that seemed to have suddenly developed between Shinji and Misato was... unsettling. She shook her head to any such thoughts-- she couldn't say it was suspicious, after all she quickly developed a friendship between herself and the young Ikari almost out of the blue. Maybe he was just that kind of guy?

Aiko was having the most fun she had in some time. It was not often that she got out of the house, especially since she and her sister moved to Tokyo-3. Her mother was never home, so she had to depend of Mayumi for anything, but Mayumi didn't mind it at all, which made her love her half-sister all the more. Their mother was at NERV all the time, but she didn't mind that too much, after all, she wasn't really ever there in the first place.

Aiko never knew her father, but Mayumi did know hers'. So the subject of fathers and mothers was a touchy one. Aiko shook her head and dismissed the melancholy thoughts, this was suppose to be a fun day. A day with new friends and instant food. Taking in another fork-full of instant ramen, she smiled at the two people she had just met-- her new friends.

Shinji was the happiest he had been in a long time.

--

To be continued.

--

Author's Notes: Edited This has been slightly edited so it can look and be more... well... readable and understandable. Not too much, though.

Well there you have it, the third chapter of Catalyst. I'm satisfied with how it turned out, but I don't want it to end up as a story with a lot of character drama and little if any choreographed Eva action. I apologize for the lack of actual action/adventure in this chapter, though.

Aiko, little loved one, is now a cast of Eva-- as far as I'm concerned. I've never played the game in which Mayumi shows up, but so whether she has a sister or not is irrelevant, cause she is in my story. Mayumi does live with foster parents, so I tried to keep that in my story, but I ended up altering that a bit.

When I pictured of Aiko's' appearance.. I thought of a younger, long haired version of Lyla (or Dante, depending on the timeline), from Fullmetal Alchemist. The same goes for Mayumi: except for the younger part, I mean that to a lesser extreme. And for those of you who have watched the show, no, I don't mean Aiko or Mayumi will end up like Lyla. (especially that decaying body thing.)

Come to think of it, that information might have been more useful at the beginning of the story.. oh well. Any and all grammatical structures and fragmentations and such will be handled once the story is done. I'd do it myself, but I don't have too much time on my hands.

Next episode, I mean chapter, will bring in the fifth angel, Ramiel!

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy.

Thank you for all the reviews and your honesty.

This is the fourth chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

The sun was shining brightly in it's endless summer sprawl; illuminating the world that surrounds it's cataclysmic, glowing shell. The endless summer that had engulfed the world after Second Impact had not faltered this day. It's chaotic flares gave the albedo of the Earth an extra hue of radiance. But, Shinji Ikari did not mind it at all-- for once in his short, albeit, sorrowful life, he was ecstatic about being at school; yes, in general-- life. What once brought him nothing but awkward social situations and confrontations, now brought him a chance to see the black-haired goddess of amity and camaraderie-- or so he regarded her as much. If not for her kindness, he might have lost to the angel that burned his hands and pierced his abdomen; he more than likely would have left Tokyo-3; and he surely would have never had made friends.

Friends... something he did not remember, even at a young age, having.

True, his mind argued, placing her on such a dais was a bit foolhardy, emotionally speaking. But what could the third child do? Even the intense heat of the sun did not distract him from the thoughts of the cherished, ebony haired friend of his. And her little sister, Aiko, was quite... different. Her impulsive personality transformations made her hard to predict and sometimes weird, but he considered her, not a comrade by acquaintanceship, but a true friend.

Shinji flushed slightly at the memory of her giving him a peck on the cheek after dinner. He recovered at the memory of, what appeared to be, a bothered Mayumi. Misato's jokes about that was something he tried his best to forget.

Yes, he owed a lot to Mayumi-- but how could he repay her for all she's done, even without intention, for him?

He had little to offer. What could he give besides his companionship and occasional kind word? He sighed and brought his knees to his chest, 'What can I possibly give to her..?' he thought sadly.

Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as two classmates sat beside him on the warm cement of the school's track field. Though he barely knew them, Kensuke and Touji had become more sociable towards him, if nothing else. With a few words of greetings they started watching the people run around in circles, eventually becoming bored, and looking upwards to the top of the hill, watching their female classmates swim and dive into the refreshing waters.

It was then that Shinji took notice of a pale set of lithe legs in the shadows. Rei Ayanami, one of the many enigmas of NERV, was leaning against the chain link fence; her knees drawn to her chest, hidden mostly by the shadows of the parasols near the pool. Shinji looked, not really anything having to do with the appreciation of her form; thought he would never admit it was actually part of the reason why, and wondered. She was extremely pale, 'Maybe she's albino?' he thought idly.

'Rei Ayanami-- fourteen years old. The first subject chosen based of the Marduk Agency. The First Child,' he began thinking of what little he knew and what was told, 'The pilot assigned to the Evangelion Prototype, Unit-00.'

He frowned, 'Her past is a total blank. Completely erased.'

"Yo, Ikari! What'cha starin' at?" Touji asked.

'That's what Misato told me, when I asked her about her file.'

"I never figured the ace here da pervert! And he acts like he don't care about nothin'."

'There had to be some reason why all her files were erased...'

"Who ya lookin' at? Horaki?.. Yamagishi?.. Oh I got it! You starin' at Ayanami, aren't ya?" he grinned at his analysis and pointed at her, "You sure go for da sullen ones!"

'I wonder if she ever smiles... or laughs...'

Rei finally took notice of the two staring in her direction and let her crimson gaze present itself towards the two. Shinji flushed a bit after being noticed, but decided to test out something. He just needed to know how it looked when she laughed, for some unrecognizable reason.

Without looking away, he grabbed Touji's nose and hooked two of his fingers inside and pulled his nose outward. Realizing he was about to struggle against him, Shinji grabbed Touji's wrist and put his foot behind his leg, in the crook behind his knee. With him incapacitated, Shinji pulled on Touji's nose some more and waited for Rei's reaction.

Needless to say, all of the girls near the pool pointed and laughed at the appearance of Suzuhara.

"Look at Suzuhara's face!"

"Check out the monkey!"

and

"I didn't think Ikari had it in him!"

The laughter and comments filled the air for seconds, and for an eternity in Touji's case. Mayumi looked down to see the predicament that Touji was in, and who had placed him in such, and immediately laughed with joy. 'Serves him right,' she thought. Her laughter faded when she noticed that Shinji was not looking at her, but instead of Rei Ayanami. For reasons she would not admit, she felt pangs of anger raising inside of her-- at both of them. Hikari grabbed the chain link fence and yelled down at the two-- blaming Touji, mostly.

"What do you think your doing? Touji you moron!"

Rei kept her expressionless mask on and turned away from the source of commotion, much to Shinji's disappointment.

'I knew it,' he frown sadly, 'she didn't laugh.' He let go of Touji, ending the majority of the laughter.

"What da hell d'ya think yer doin!" Touji yelled, practically in his ear.

Shinji's face was deadpanned, 'Maybe she's some sort of robot... nah, she couldn't be.'

Touji raised his right sleeve in anger, 'IKARI! LOOK AT ME!"

Finally taking notice of the angry jock, Shinji face Touji, "Oh! Let's say we're even now!"

Touji fell on the floor with a loud 'thud' and sighed indignantly, "I didn't want you to get me back that way..."

--

Both Eva Units 00 and 01 stood waist high in deep maroon liquid. The Eva cages in which both Units are held are enormous in it's magnitude and size. Everything seemed to echo off the chromium and stainless steel walls, never letting an idle whisper dissipate into nothingness. It probably helped his father keep track of everything.

Father. Ayanami. What is their connection?

As Shinji looked across the sea of maroon water, he saw Ayanami talking to his father, almost with a smile. Almost. Even the one person she seemed to be happy around did not cause her to smile or break the seal of mask. He was still able to decipher what was said, thanks to the echoing walls of the sixth Eva cage.

"Rei. Unit-00's reactivation test is finally coming up tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

His orange tinted glasses seemed to glint in bright lights of the cage, "Are you scared?"

"I'm all right, sir. Don't worry."

"I see," a brief, but sudden smile crossed his face, "I'm sure things will go more smoothly, this time."

"Yes, sir..."

Shinji stood at the back of Unit-01's neck and looked on as the conversation between the two continued on for a short moment. Jealously and passive anger, mostly anger, passed through his eyes, but left quickly. His facial expressions ended with sadden tinged apathy.

'Dad... you'd never talked like that, or even look at me like that, would you?' Shinji looked inside of the Eva and climbed inside to get his Synchronization tests over with. 'What's Ayanami to Dad, anyway?'

--

His thoughts about the blue-haired pilot of Unit-00 did not end, even after hours of sitting on the Throne of the Soul, the questions still kept pouring out. Shinji sat at the table idly picking at the instant food that threatened his stomach. While idly picking at the scraps of TV dinners, he looked down to see the warm water penguin, Pen-Pen, looking at his plate with a confused stare. Why Misato sat down a can of Yebisu for the bird, he didn't want to know. After a few seconds he opened the can and set it down again, to his surprise, the penguin then lifted the can with his flippers and downed the liquid.

After the slightly disturbing scene, Shinji's thoughts returned to Ayanami, 'What could have caused Unit-00's reactivation to fail? Ritsuko said that it was because of a catastrophic change in the pilot's emotions... but... that couldn't be. Ayanami... her face never changes expression.'

The shower ended and, a few minutes later, Misato stepped out into the living room, of course, with as little clothes as she could have on without official calling her underdressed. "Shinjiiiiii..." she moaned next to his ear. Shinji, now somewhat use to her teasing, looked forward with an annoyed expression and then looked to regard his guardian.

"You're still walking around like that, Misato?" he deadpanned.

"Oh, shut up. It's hot okay? Besides, you use to it by now, aren't you?" She stretched and dried her hair with the towel draped around her shoulders.

"No."

"Anyway, here," she extended her hand and gave Shinji a card, " It's your new security card."

"Oh, thanks."

"Take this one, too." Misato handed her charge another similar card, "It's Rei's new card. Ritsuko says she forgot to give it to her."

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"Give it to her, of course. Would you mind dropping it off at her place before you go to HQ?"

Shinji looked at the card and inspected the picture in the middle, a small blush developing on his cheeks as he noticed a pair of chocolate-colored eyes staring at him. He was caught off-guard, once again.

"Say, why are you all flustered?" she teased lightly. "You're blushing!"

"What!" Shinji went wide eyed, he knew that he was about to get it.

"Oh, wait a minute... Shinji!" she developed her own blush, just to add to the effect, "You little devil! You, Rei, and Mayumi? Well my, my, my."

His whole head seemed to turn red. "That's not it at all! I just don't know her very well!"

"Well, it isn't exactly the era of strict morals, maybe they'll agree to your little fantasy..." she added with a sly grin.

Afterwards, Shinji didn't get that peaceful night sleep he was looking forward to.

'Damn you, Misato! I'll never get to sleep now...'

--

It was the weekend, so Shinji did not have the pleasure of talking to Mayumi or Aiko, which did sadden him a bit, but did not lower his spirits too much. Walking down the cracked pavement of the sidewalk, Shinji was astonished at the rows upon rows of analogous high-rise, cheap apartment buildings. Misato had called it the 'bottoms,' he didn't understand why then, but now he had a clue. To think that Ayanami lived in such a place was saddening.

Shinji looked at the poor excuse for a map Misato had gave to him and somehow managed to get the right apartment building. He climbed the desolate and seemingly deserted stairs and up to designated room number. The sign over the room read '402'. He didn't want to disturb her by knocking, so he pressed the button on the intercom-- nothing. It didn't work, and by the looks of the building and surrounding areas, it hasn't been working for some time. 'Ayanami lives alone in a place like this?' he thought as a frown appeared on his face. He grabbed the handle of the door, hoping it didn't open.

The door opened to reveal a rather dirty tile flooring. He didn't step in, fearing that he might be intruding on her personal space. "Um... It's Ikari... Ayanami? You there?"

Not hearing any indication of anybody inside, he took off his shoes and stepped in inside as quietly as he could. "Is anybody home?" He walked into the apartment and saw a large set of blinds that let very little light through it's thin cloth. The room was so empty it made the trip all the more uncomfortable. The bed was askew and messy; there was a box of bloody bandages in the corner of the room; and worst of all, the room was devoid of all unnecessary items. He hadn't been expecting a lot of personality inside of Ayanami's room, but to have nothing but the bare essentials seemed so sad, lonely and too much like him.

It was then that he caught of a glimpse of a broken pair of glasses on the drawer near the center of the room. He walked over, letting curiosity get the better of him, 'Huh? These glasses, I didn't know she wore them...' After a little bit of inspection, he notice something printed on the side of the frames, G. Ikari.

'They're dads..!'

The sound of soft footsteps echoed in the small room, making Shinji freeze in place. Looking back, he saw the lithesome form of Rei Ayanami, draped in only a towel. Such luck could only have happened to Shinji, which it seemed to be the cruel joke of numerous omnipotent forces; one couldn't possibly be able to ruin his life so thoroughly and instantaneously.

Shinji's heart skipped one beat, no more than that, as he looked at her pale body. Finally regaining the ability to do something, anything, he backed away and dropped the glasses he had been holding, letting them create a resounding crack as they hit the floor. Rei's eyes seemed to expand slightly at the sight before her; not Shinji raising his arm over his eyes and looking away at her nude form, but the now further broken lenses of the glasses. She began to walk towards him, a look of utter terror crossing his face, believing that he may, if not emotionally, physically die in apartment 402.

"I-I'm sorry..! I- Oh!" seeing her bend down in front of him to calmly lift the glasses that had fell proved to be too much for his frail mind to take, "Sorry!" he covered his eyes and ran forward. "I didn't see anything..!" This movement proved to be an even worse mistake. His foot hit Ayanami's ankle with little force, but enough to send her and him both falling to the cold tile flooring. He felt something soft and supple slide across his right hand, not really having his eyes open, he didn't know what it was.

After was seemed to be perpetual silence, he opened his eye to see the small amount of light that the room allowed gracing the pale form of Rei. Her eyes stayed still, calm, cool, and collected-- despite the small gasp that escaped her lips when he landed. This did nothing to help him. Why wasn't she trying to get him off of her? Why wasn't she throttling the life out of him? She just stared at his face, her crimson eyes simply looking at his navy blue irises. The air conditioner was the only sound that could be heard in the apartment, it's constant sound bringing Shinji back out of his trance.

He scrambled off of her and held the strap of his shoulder bag with uncertainty and excessive force, making his knuckles turn white under his slightly tanned skin. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."

"What can I do for you?" She asked in the same monotonous voice of her's, slowing getting off the floor, as if nothing happened.

"Wha..?" he whispered with confused and fright.

The snap of the glasses being placed inside of its case and closing woke him up again. "Uh... I... What was it again? The card.."

He looked away as she began to place her panties on, "Your card... It's been renewed, so Misato... she asked me to drop it off..." he clutched at his undershirt, feeling the same fear overcome him, "I- I rang the doorbell, but it looks like it's broken... Your door was unloc--"

"Leave the card over there, then." she commented as she slipped her bra on.

All the color left his face. Why did she.. ? Not being able to think clearly anymore, he closed his eyes and placed the card on the drawer near him. "Sorry." Shinji said apologetically before picking his shoes off the floor and running out of the apartment. Once the door was closed, he leaned against it as the world around him seemed to haze in and out of existence.

--

Shinji crushed the can of decaffeinated coffee, a drink that he had become almost addicted to, and threw it in the trashcan next to him. He was sitting on a wooden bench near the vending machine that he often passed on his way to NERV. He was angry, but not at the world around him, or his father, who had basically just shoved him inside of the giant purple Eva. No, he was angry at himself. Only he could pull off such an awkward situation and suffer enough to survive, only to think about it some more.

'Damn it... She probably hates me now...'

He looked down and found the shadow of the familiar blue-haired girl. He began to feel nervous all over again. Her face remained the same as always, something he began to dislike. Not knowing what to say, he mumbled out a 'Hi,' which he mentally slapped himself for.

Ayanami only glanced at him and continued walking down the street. Shinji lifted his shoulder bag up and called out to her, "Ayanami! Wait up!"

Shinji continued walking behind her, contemplating what he could possibly say or do to apologize to her. The walk towards the giant pyramid that was NERV HQ was quiet, until Shinji finally thought of something to talk about. "So, it's... your reactivation test with Unit-00 is today, isn't it?" He felt his confidence rise slightly as the words did not stumble out as he had expected, "You aren't scared, are you, Ayanami?"

"Of what?"

"About, you know... getting back into your Eva... I heard about what happened the last time."

"Are you scared of yours?" she asked quietly.

Shinji looked down and threw that question around in his mind. His memories brought back the pain he had felt inside of the Eva. The angel with the dagers in it's elbows and how it pierced his Eva's right eye. The way the snake-like angel pierced his abdomen and almost killed Mayumi. Anger boiled inside of him at that thought. The Eva brought him pain, but saved the life of the girl who had entered his life and made it slightly more bearable. No, he did not like it, but it was something he had to do, to fight the monsters that threatened the few people in his life that mattered. He wondered if Ayanami might be one of those people.

"No. Scared isn't the right word... but I think it's stranger not to be at least a little scared of it."

Without turning around, she responded, "Can't you have faith in your father's work?"

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. She soon stopped herself and looked back at the third child, "No. There's no way I can. Not in a father who abandoned me and one day called me out of the nowhere, simply because, 'he had a use for me'."

Rei did not know about the young Ikari's situation with his father, but the word abandoned seemed to resonate in the back of her head. Subconsciously, that word had a profound and enigmatic meaning to her, but it did not matter right now. She couldn't deny his words, for he did appear at NERV suddenly and without prior knowledge of the Eva; he fought. Fought ferociously, tapping an inner strength that he could never see in himself.

She finally finished analyzing his words and came to her conclusion. "You are correct, Ikari. You have no reason to have faith in your father, but I do. The only thing in this world I have faith in is the Commander." And with that, she turned around and left Shinji with those bittersweet words in his ears.

--

Eva Unit-00 stood in the white, stainless steel and chromium confinement of the #3 test bay. The heavy restraints on it's rigid shoulders shone in the extremely bright white lights that illuminated the room. The single optical eye reflected the everything and everyone in the orange room across from the Eva, even Shinji Ikari.

"We will now commence the reactivation test for Unit-00." Ritsuko stood next to her protégé, Maya Ibuki and began stating the procedures.

"Rei," a gruff voice came from the external speakers in the orange room, "Are you ready?"

Rei Ayanami sat inside on her saffron colored Eva and awaited further orders. "Yes, sir."

"Initiate Primary Contact." Gendo commanded as he pushed his glasses higher on his nose.

"Main power, contact."

"Operational voltage critical point, cleared!" informed the brown haired protégé.

"Roger," said Ritsuko before turning towards Maya, "Shift format to Phase Two!"

"Begin linking pilot to Unit-00."

"Pulse and harmonics normal."

"Synch is green."

"All nerve links connected."

"No abnormalities in C.N.S."

"List items 1 through 2590 have been cleared."

Shinji stood next to his guardian, behind the orange glass that separated him from the yellow Eva and Ayanami. He was nervous; worried about the safety of his fellow pilot, and a girl he knew. She might hate him, but he couldn't help it, it wasn't in his nature, with the exception of his father, to not care about the people that he knew. Even Ritsuko was something, rather than nothing, to him; not that it really did anything for him in life.

He watched his reflection in the single red eye of Ayanami's Eva and thought about the days events. He lowered his view and frown. Why did things like that happen to him, anyway?

"2.5 until absolute borderline."

Rei voice rang inside of his head, 'The only thing in this world I have faith in is the Commander.'

"1.7... 1.2..."

'Why?'

"1.0..."

'Why does she think so much of him?'

"0.6... 0.4... 0.3... 0.2..."

'It's weird...'

"0.1"

'Why am I so concerned about her? Why am I so concerned about everyone else, except me?'

"Borderline cleared!" stated Maya, "Unit-00 has been activated. Now commencing Linkage Test."

Shinji looked to the left of him after hearing the sound of a phone being slammed down. He saw the tall white-haired man that his father always seemed to be around, looking very serious-- not that anyone besides Misato and him in NERV wasn't.

"Ikari! An unidentified flying object is heading this way..." he the old man looked at commander, "It's most likely an angel."

Shinji and Misato both turned to the black suited commander of NERV with nervous expectation.

"Abort the test," he finally yelled, "All personnel, go to level one battle stations!"

The white haired man stood next to Gendo, "Can we use Unit-00?"

"It's not battle-ready yet." He always kept that controlled voice. It didn't falter now. "What about Unit-01?"

Ritsuko spoke up, "We can have it up in 380 seconds."

"Then make it so."

Both Ritsuko and his father stared at the pilot of Unit-01. His father spoke, "What's the matter? Get going!"

Shinji's expression of indifference didn't change much. "Yes... sir." 'He won't even wish me good luck'.

The younger Ikari climbed inside of the entry plug and placed himself on the Throne of the Soul, and waited for them to shoot him out of NERV to fight the invading angel. The purple biomachinal weapon stood rigid against the walls of the catapult which would take him to the top of Tokyo-3 and the ensuing battle. He wasn't scared anymore, just upset. 'But even if I can't believe in my father... all I can do is get in my Eva and fight.' His thoughts continued to wander through the anxiety before combat. 'I hope Mayumi and Aiko are safe...'

The internal speakers inside of the entry plug came online, "Target is now above Lake Ashino," came the voice of a male technician.

"Unit-01 is ready for take-off, " announced the female voice Shinji had often heard in combat, "Eva-01-- Launch!"

Shinji braced himself as he and his Eva were launched from the safety of the geofront and NERV HQ, expecting nothing. Meanwhile, the large geometric shaped angel floated over Tokyo-3, it's diamond shape giving off the look of a large floating structure rather than a monster of unknown origin. The center of the angel, where the two halves of its pyramid shaped bodies met, began to hum and glow brighter. The motion of light and magnetism seemed to become a whirlpool in it's semi-transparent body.

The male technician's voice returned in disbelief, "I'm getting a high energy reading from within the target!"

"What was that!" Misato said in surprise and shock.

"It's accelerating on it's periphery! Starting to converge!" the same male voice shouted.

Misato's eyes went wide, "Can't be-- A particle beam weapon!" She watched in forlorn anger as the purple Eva reached the streets of Tokyo-3, standing in front of the perilous view of the angel and one of the most powerful weapon known to mankind. She nearly had a heart attack as the Eva stood in the street, held by the shoulder restraints that kept him from moving in the catapult. "No! Shinji! Get out of the way!"

Shinji didn't have time for more than a "huh" as a bright light made even the daytime sky of Tokyo-3 seemed to dark. He moved his head in time to see the source of the light-- only to see the twinkle of the sun coming from the diamond shaped angel. He gasped as a extremely thin stream of light pierced the sky-- and the building in front of him, melting it at an impossibly fast rate sending liquid metal onto the tarmac of Tokyo-3.

His eyes went wide as the beam came directly at him.

--

Mayumi sat inside of the sat in the corner of the school shelter hugging her little sister, Aiko. It was the weekend, so being at school did seem weird, but it was the closest shelter in the surrounding area. The siren had been going off for the past few minutes, but ended minutes after a while, 'Probably because everyone is in a shelter... everyone except...' She closed her eyes and sighed.

She was mad at him for staring at her. For staring at Ayanami. She didn't hate him or anything, but why did he look at her? Sure, he was a guy so it would only be natural for him to look at other girls, and it wasn't as if they were in a relationship, but,..

Incoherent thoughts continued to spew into her head until she lost herself in deep thought, idly stroking her sister's hair. She was sleeping on her lap, lightly snoring; a fact that she would eventually use to keep her sister in check when they argued. It was funny, her sister wasn't too much younger than her, but she acted like an eight year old. It was just how she dealt with her-- no, their past. Aiko had told her everything, something that was a perfect example of their sometimes bittersweet relationship. The memories of Aiko... such a cruel fate for someone so young. The older Yamagishi stroked her sister's hair again-- such thoughts always made her want to shield her sister from anything that would harm her.

Soon it would end; and Mayumi slumped against the wall of the shelter and dreamed.

For some reason, the dream was too real. She heard a scream, from someone she knew. It wasn't the scream of anger that echoed in her mind, no, it was an even more pained scream. Mayumi closed her eyes in her restless slumber-- Shinji was hurt, she couldn't say why she felt this way, but she knew that it was true. Then it came back-- that tugging feeling close to her heart, it's unrelenting yet almost.. palliative feeling was smothering her chest. It seemed to fade in and out, steady with her own heartbeat, leading her gaze towards the door of the shelter. Refusing to leave her sister's side, she held Aiko closer and shut her eyes.

The only thing she saw was a blinding light; with Shinji's screams, the only sound of life in the blinding rays.

--

The particle beam tore through the building as if it didn't even exist, soaring over the city with lethal accuracy. Shinji stared at the light with amazed panic, not being able to move, he could only wait for the inevitable pain. The light hit Unit-01 with unprecedented speed, sending molten pieces of armor to the surrounding buildings, splashing with a sickening squelch. The thin beam bored into the purple beast, splitting the chest armor and liquefying it's outer shell.

Shinji grabbed the controls of the Eva and pulled on them franticly, telling it to move, run-- anything but stand still. The LCL around him, and inside of his body, boiled instantaneously. The searing pain from the boiling liquid had no mercy, nor did the angel that implemented such an attack. He screamed in agony, his skin seared red by now. He couldn't open his eyes to confirm this, for the pain was too much. This pain probably kept him from going blind in the sweltering LCL.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Misato stared at the main hologram suspended in the command center, "SHINJI!"

Ritsuko looked on in trepidation, shocked at the power of the newest angel, and fearing for the life of the third child. She looked at the hologram in the air and clutched her left arm, subconsciously imagining about the pain their tragic hero must being going through.

Blood spewed from the side of Shinji's mouth as he started gagging at the fire that entered his heart.

"Get him back! Hurry!" Misato ordered, her voice wavering at the sight of Shinji dying inside the Eva.

The restraints clicked and locked on the arms and shoulder armor of Unit-01 and dragged in down the catapult that had lifted him onto what would have been certain death. The particle beam that had shattered everyone's' hopes of a victory followed the Eva until it hit the streets of Tokyo-3, causing an anticlimactic explosion. The diamond shaped angel hovered in it's periphery, waiting.

"The target has gone inactive!" yelled the male tech.

Taking in the last of the battle information, Misato turned to the bespectacled tech near the Maya. "How's Shinji!"

"EEG Abnormal! Pulse faint!"

Maya typed uncontrollably onto the keyboard in front of her, "Unit-01 to Cage #7, retrieve him!"

Misato ran from her former position in the command center, "I'm going to the cage!" she looked back at the blonde scientist, "Ritsuko! Get the medic team ready-- stat!"

Finally recovering from her initial shock, she responded, "Got it!"

Rei stood passively at the retreating figure of NERV's main tactician and frowned slightly. She would have to reconsider Shinji's words a bit. She returned her placid gaze towards the giant diamond shaped angel in the sky.

Shinji's eyes flicked in and out.

"Pilot brain waves erratic!"

Shinji's chest stopped moving up and down.

"Pulse faint!-- Correction, pulse has stopped!"

Ritsuko took command of the situation, the young Ikari's life now took priority. "Set life support system to maximum! Commence CPR!"

A pained gasp escaped Shinji's mouth and his upper body jagged forward, but no other response followed.

"Again!"

Another jagged movement in the pilot occurred, forcing the boy to breath in the steaming liquid.

"Pulse confirmed!"

"Hurry! Force-eject the entry plug!"

Unit-01 stood inside of the seventh Eva cage, the back of it's neck lurching forward to let out a white cylinder from it's depths. Steam slithered out of the back of it's neck, clouding the vision of the nearby engineers and work crews.

"Emergency LCL flush!" Ritsuko shouted, now in control after the pilots life signs were confirmed.

Several openings in the entry plug shot out with blistering hot orange-yellow fluid. A hatch in the middle of the plug opened up, letting the steam inside to free itself from it's metallic chamber. It was at this time that Misato made it to the Eva cages. "Shinji!" She called out as the Throne of the Soul was brought out of the plug by a crane, with Shinji's limp form laid across it's steel embrace.

"Hang on, Shinji!" She yelled as the crane was dropped and her charge was lifted off the seat and onto a stretcher. She looked at the medical team that had made it before her, "Get him to the ER! NOW!"

Meanwhile, the giant flying angel floats over the center of the city, idly bidding it's time, knowing that it has stopped NERV's only truly effective weapon, the Evangelion. On the bottom of the two pyramid halves, a large drill slowly begins to lower directly over the powerless NERV HQ. It hits the tarmac of Tokyo-3 with no real effort, slowing down only slightly as it began drilling back the deep earth.

Ritsuko looked over to the bespectacled man near her, "What's the enemy started doing?"

"It's drilling into the geofront-- towards NERV HQ!"

"It's trying a direct attack!"

--

Several hours later, a large inflated scale model of Unit-01 made it's way towards the angel, moving over the water by a large trimaran. After reaching the estimated parameters, the angel reacted and launched it's particle beam towards the mock-Eva, destroying it instantly.

"Dummy vaporized"

Misato sat in the darken tactics room, analyzing every possible angle and variable involved in attacking and defeating the impregnable flying fortress. She had made arrangements to test out the range at which the angel could reach with it's particle beam weapon. The first test should that it attack anything within a specified distance. The second...

"Next."

A large train mounted cannon moved forward to it's designated location in the outskirts of Tokyo-3. Misato kept her eyes on the angel, not at the cannon, she knew it would be destroyed, but it was necessary to see the angel's defense capabilities. The large mounted cannon released a similar, but nowhere near as powerful, stream of particle energy towards the angel. The angel remained still and continued to drill towards NERV HQ. A large transparent-orange hexagonal field appeared in front of the angel, shielding the angel from the pathetic excuse for firepower and retaliated with by sending it's own beam towards the cannon.

"Type-12 self-propelled mortar destroyed."

A thin and shaved bespectacled man walked towards Misato, bringing forward the results of her two ploys. "According to the data collected thus far, it seems that the target automatically eliminates enemies within a fixed radius."

Misato cut it-- she knew what she needed to know, "The instant they enter that radius, its particle cannon destroys them with 100 accuracy," she paused briefly as her thoughts returned to the brown haired boy, "Which means we can't get the Eva close enough to neutralize its A.T. Field for close-quarters combat... but what about the enemie's A.T. Field?"

"Still active," he adjusted his frames, "It's so powerful that you can actually see the phase-shift space within the naked eye."

Misato reclined against the chair she sat on and bit down on her pen slightly before speaking again, "It's practically perfect in both attack and defense."

She looked at the main hologram in the tactics room, "So... what about that drill?"

"A bit with a diameter of 17.5, currently drilling towards NERV HQ... currently, it's reached the #2 armored plate."

"What's its ETA to reach HQ?"

"Tomorrow morning, at zero hours, 6 minutes and 54 seconds," he flipped through the pages of his report, "By that time, we believe it will have cut through all twenty-two layers of armored plating and reached NERV HQ."

"Less than ten hours, then..." Misato turned to her console and opened communications with the Eva crew, "Dr. Akagi, what's the status of Unit-01?"

Ritsuko, in this case Dr. Akagi, stood next to her protégé, "The chest is completely melted down to the third armor plate," she raised her vision towards the cranes that lifted the, now cooled down, pieces of deformed armored plating on the Eva's chest, "We're lucky that the functional center wasn't damaged."

Maya Ibuki spoke next, "Given a few more seconds, it would have shot right through the Eva."

"We'll have the armor swapped out in three hours."

Misato turned to the alternative, "What about Unit-00?"

Ritsuko raised the radio closer to her, "Reactivation is no problem. But there are still some feedback problems."

"Damn... She's just not battle-ready, yet!" The pilot of Unit-01 crossed her mind, she regretted the almost certain option of using him to fight the angel that was just seconds away from burning him off the face of the Earth, "And Shinji? What's the status of Unit-01's pilot?"

"No permanent physical damage," the head of the medical team finally speaking up, "The nerve pulse is a bit unstable, but within acceptable parameters. He's still under sedation."

Misato rested her head on her right hand and sighed, "Doesn't look good, does it?"

"Shall we raise the white flag?"

"Nice idea," she said sardonically, "But before we try that... we've gotta try everything we can." She tapped the pen against her in though and grinned, "We'll have plenty of time to regret out decisions when we're dead."

--

'The only thing I'm good at, and I couldn't even do that for you, could I?'

Shinji laid in his hospital bed, sleeping restlessly after his near death experience. Inside his mind, he saw Mayumi and Aiko, huddled in the corner of a shelter, afraid for their lives and counting on him to save them from the angels.

And he failed them, so thoroughly and so utterly failed them. He didn't even have a chance to fight back or even raise his hands in defense. How utterly pathetic.

Rei... she probably hated him. The reason he even piloted the Eva in the first place was because of her. He remembered her, sprawled on the floor after falling from the medical stretcher. He remembered holding her close to him, her blood staining his clothes and arms, and how could not let her pilot the Eva, not when death was assured.

He let her down too.

But, did he really owe anyone anything? The pain he felt inside of the Eva, could it be worth the same amount of human contact he had acquired? His mind raced with questions; questions that second-guessed his stand on piloting Eva.

Tears stung at the corners of his closed eyes as he slowly regained consciousness. He blinked as he saw the face of Mayumi.

No, the long sabled-hair transformed into short unruly blue; the light peach colored skin that seemed lively transformed into the cool pale skin of Rei. She was watching over him. He rolled his head over in her direction, surprise by her bedside presence. A large blush developed over his face as soon as he remembered why he was so nervous around her recently.

"A-Ayanami..?"

She did not respond at first, instead she brought over a tray of food and placed it near his bed, "Here's some food." She moved the cart that was near the door and moved it near the her fallen pilot, placing the tray on it. "They said to get you something to eat once you woke up."

Shinji sat up in his bed, "I don't feel like eating anything./."

"I think you should eat something before we go." After a period of silence, she continued, "We leave in 60 minutes."

"Huh?.."

Ayanami pulled out a small black book, "Here is the schedule for the operation that will begin in zero hours, tomorrow." She flipped through the small pages and found what she was looking for, "Pilots Ikari and Ayanami will assemble at the cage at 1730 hours. At 1800 hours, Eva Unit-01 and Unit-00 will be activated. 1805 hours, launch."

Shinji watched as she stood in the middle of the room, reciting everything in the same voice, "At 1830, arrive at the temporary base on Mt. Futago. Await further orders. Commence operation at midnight."

It was quiet for awhile, until Rei spoke up once again, "Don't show up looking like that."

Shinji looked confused for a second before he noticed that the sheet that covered his body lowered a bit too much. He pulled the covers over himself quickly and drew his knees to his chest, "Sorry..."

"Rei... I'm sorry..."

His second apology was different than the others he seemed to say so often, it sounded sincere; not the same as the apologies he mumbled out every so often, so she had to ask what he was apologizing for, "For what?"

"For not being able to fight better... I should have been able to do something other than stand still, and if I did you wouldn't have to risk getting hurt again."

Rei tilted her head to the side; it was a strange thing to say. Were they not both pilots of the Evangelions? "I do not understand. We are both pilots, so we both share equal risk during combat."

"I know... I just... never mind." He could never look into her crimson eyes for too long; so piercing and unrelenting.

--

"How's the positron rifle coming!"

Misato stood in the command center, barking orders out at every moving and nonmoving person that crossed her path. She held the communication button and looked at the main monitors.

"I swear we'll have it done in three hours. You have the word of the technical development department on that!"

Turning away from the screen and back towards the three ever-present NERV officers in the command center, "Aoba, how's the outlook on the energy system?"

"It's currently 3.2 percent behind schedule, but we'll make it by 2310 hours-- somehow."

The Commander sat on a higher platform from Misato, his elbows on his desk and finger's interlaced in front of his face. His eyes were hidden behind the orange tinted lenses of his glasses. No doubt he was analyzing the situation, the future scenarios, maybe even the future of NERV itself. It was not impossible; he was the supreme commander.

The white-haired man that was always with the Commander; second in-charge, the sub-commander, stood near Gendo Ikari. He rubbed his chin, impressed at the speed and effectiveness that their main tactician took hold of the situation. "I'm amazed the JSSDF Labs allowed you to requisition that positron rifle! And then to requisition every watt of power in Japan for a sniper shot at extreme range... you've come up with a rather bold plan, Captain Katsuragi."

Turning around to regard the sub-commander, Misato spoke with her full authority, "It was the most effective option, given the time that we have. If we can't neutralize the enemy's A.T. Field, our only chance is to punch through it with a concentrated high-order energy point!"

Gendo Ikari finally got out of his constant state of thought, "I see no reason to oppose your plan. Go to it."

On the main monitor, the sun gleamed off the semi-transparent diamond in the sky; it's main objective only hours away. The drill that sprouted from the bottom half pyramid that formed it's geometric shape was moving closer and closer to NERV HQ. With the pilot of Eva Unit-01 wounded and Eva Unit-00 not completely ready for combat, things looked grim.

"The enemy's drill has penetrated through the #9 armor plate! Six hours and forty-five minutes remaining to contact!"

--

Touji and Kensuke stood on top of their school building's roof; Kensuke with his a camcorder in hand and Touji with his hands in his pockets, idly looking towards the orange sun in the sky. The intense orange glow reflected through the body of the angel in the middle of Tokyo-3, making the school look as if it were glowing.

Though most people were inside of the shelter, Kensuke had managed to 'find' some files in his father's computer. His curiosity gave him the opportunity to see the Eva's in action. Touji had tagged along, only because he had nothing better to do. Also, he knew that Kensuke was not too insane; they would leave when things got too dicey or too dark.

It would be a pitch black night that day. It was reported that there would be a country wide black-out later that night, though they did not really say why. With it being the weekend and all, they did not see Shinji or Ayanami; the school shelter was just the closest one. No doubt they were preparing for battle against the flying diamond in the sky.

Getting impatient, Touji faced Kensuke, "Yo, Kensuke! You sure about da time? We're suppose to be evacuated by now!"

"I took a peek at dad's data. This is definitely the right time!"

A large piece of the nearby hillside started to shift and move into itself, revealing the gutted out innards of the hill and the machinery that lay underneath. Both watched with amazed facial expressions as the face of the large purple Evangelion appeared from the hillside, followed by another orange Evangelion. Kensuke raised his camcorder at, what he thought was, the most beautiful image in his life.

"There it is!" He stated with tears of joy at his corners, "The Evangelions!"

Touji looked up with mild amusement at the both of the Evangelions before looking at the unfamiliar one, "So Ayanami's with him this time." He raised his left fist and cheered the mechanical saviors on, "Ayyyyyyy! Kick some ass!"

--

The night sky was clear, but revealed little of the stars surrounding the Earth. That would soon change. Operation Yashima would soon go into full effect, and with that, also the death of the slowly invading angel.

Misato stood in the center of a large circle of wires and trucks carrying main and reserve power supplies. The sheer amount of trucks and large cylinder cooling systems was simply staggering. The few lights that were used to illuminate the area pointed towards the rows of machinery and onto the location of the angel and Misato Katsuragi.

Misato stood in the center of the enclosure; Ritsuko, Shinji and Rei stood in front of her.

"All right.. the enemy bore has already breached the #17 armor plate," stated the captain, "It will be about three hours and 55 minutes until it reaches HQ."

Misato pointed towards a large rifle set up nearby, directed towards the angel in the city. "This is a positron rifle," she began, "NERV requisitioned it from the Japan Strategic Self-Defense Force Research Labs; it's still pretty much an experimental weapon, though."

Ritsuko took her cue, "According to our calculations, it can punch through the enemy's A.T. Field even at this range.. however, it's a precision instrument, not intended for field operations-- and a system we've thrown together in a big hurry." Ritsuko looked towards Unit-00, which was kneeling down near Unit-01, "And about that shield.. We've jury-rigged it from the bottom of a single-stage-to-orbit rocket that was given an ultra-electromagnetic coating. It can withstand the enemy's beam for seventeen seconds."

"Shinji will be the gunner in Unit-01." Misato said as she faced the pilot of Unit-01 directly, "And Rei will handle defense in Unit-00."

Shinji looked towards Rei and saw that, will she was not in any visible pain, she was clutching her arm, the arm that had been in a cast recently. He frown and faced towards the ground. 'I'd rather handle defense.. she still might be hurt..'

Misato took notice of his hesitation, but decided it was best to leave him be and talk to Rei; trying to assure him in some way. "Rei.. Shinji will handle the rifle because the synchro rate between Shinji and Unit-01 is higher. Precise operation is absolutely necessary this time."

It was Ritsuko's time to talk, "Now, Shinji... positrons are one type of antimatter particle. While a stream of positrons are practical weapons in the endless vacuum of space, where normal matter in the path of the beam would be tenuous, a positron beam in the Earth's atmosphere would be like putting the barrel of your grenade launcher right up against a wall and then pulling the trigger... The matter/antimatter reaction, in other words, would start to occur within nanometers once the positrons leave the magnetic containment field within the barrel of the sniper rifle." Ritsuko drew her arms across her chest as the cold air began to get to her. "Now I can't get into detail, but we have managed to generate a type of neutrinos that will surround the beam until it hits the target, in this case, the angel. But because of this, it will not fire in straight line. Don't forget to correct for that."

All of the science entered into his head, but not too much stayed there. "But.. I haven't trained for stuff like that yet."

"Don't worry, just do it by the book. Just pull the trigger when the markers are centered on the target. We will handle everything else."

"So you'll all help me, right?.. but what if the first shot misses?"

Misato's expression harden, "It would take twenty seconds to cool, recharge, and fire the second shot. We anticipate a counter-attack within that time. If you can't dodge it.. it's all over." The next words that she spoke made a cold surge run down Shinji's spine. "In the last extremity, Rei's shield will have to protect you."

'If the shield only lasts for seventeen seconds,' Shinji felt a lump in his throat, '.. there won't be a second shot.'

"It's time. Get ready, you two." Misato ordered.

Both answered, "Yes ma'am."

--

Slowly, the lights of Japan, which have hidden the stars from the eternal night, faded into nothing; darkening the world around the Evangelions and their pilots. Billboard signs and streetlights shut-off, leaving the empty streets with nothing but the howling winds to travel through their darkened concrete and steel. The constant hums faded out of existence; except for the lights that brought a wraithlike glow under the angel, the Evangelions, and the two bridges that stood near the Eva's, that held the two pilots.

"All the light's have gone out..." Shinji commented idly, trying his best to start a conversation with Ayanami.

He turned his head and saw that Rei was staring off into the black hills, her knees drawn to her chest and her face, as usual, expressionless. Feeling unnerved, he faced away from Ayanami and spoke the only thoughts that echoed into his head, "I guess we may be dead soon."

"Why?"

Shinji looked down; she seemed so calm. So still. So composed. This only made him feel like garbage. "How can you be so calm? You've been put through so much danger already..." No longer being able to stand the silence, he asked something that had been bugging him for some time, "Why do you pilot the Eva?"

Rei intertwined her fingers and placed them on her knees, drawing them closer to her. "Because... it's my link."

"To my dad..?"

She looked down, not showing a hint of true sadness-- but Shinji could feel it in the air that seemed to surrounded her. "I have nothing else... It's like I was born to pilot an Eva." Rei looked towards the pilot of Unit-01. "If I stopped being a pilot, I would have nothing left... That's the same as being dead."

She turned away, but Shinji thought that she might still be listening, "The same as being dead..? Well, then... I guess I was like that before I came here." Rei returned her gaze at him, "I hated everything. I was totally apathetic, I just didn't care about anything. But I put up a quiet front, playing the good little kid. I... I guess I was just going through the motions of living. Doing what I was told." 'Why am I telling Ayanami all of this anyway..? Because we're in the same situation?'

'No... maybe it's because Ayanami has even less than I do. I don't know, but it feels that way.'

Rei closed her eyes and looked at the small watch that was built into the left hand section of the plug suit. It read 21:10. There was still some time left, and her curiosity was still not fully satisfied. "Do you still think that way?"

The question caught him off-guard. It was a question that was not too hard to answer... but he didn't feel certain. He no longer was 'apathetic'; he had honestly been happy on a few occasions in his short time in Tokyo-3. Misato... she was almost... well she was someone that he knew he didn't hate; he actually like her, but to what extend was still something he hadn't wanted to ask himself. Mayumi and Aiko... he didn't have words to describe them. The half-sisters had brought a small amount of joy into his life, but was his appreciation for them too excessive? His whole life was nothing but loneliness... did the few days in Tokyo-3 change him that much?

"Not too much... but I think I'm at peace with what I have to do."

Rei looked down at the time and got up. "It's time. Let's go."

"Oh... sure."

As Shinji was about to climb into his Eva, Rei called out to him. "Ikari." Her monotonous voice did not change.

"Yes, Ayanami?"

"You won't die." Ayanami turned and looked into the eyes of Ikari. "I'll protect you."

Shinji stood in front of his entry plug, his mouth slightly open after hearing Rei's words. His arms hung loosely at his sides, and he could not move for some reason. "Goodbye." Those words resonated in his head even after he got inside of his Eva."

23:59:57  
Countdown 00:00:03

**00:00:00**

Countdown **00:00:00**

--

"This is it." Informed the bespectacled computer technician.

Misato stood in the temporary sub-station, close to the Evangelions. Her commanding voice never faltered in command. It would not be an exception this day. "Shinji... all the power of Japan is in your hands."

Outside of the temporary sub-station, Evangelion Unit-01 laid on it's abdomen, it's arms outward, holding the experimental positron rifle. The white slit of light that appeared as the eyes of Unit-01 glowed an eerie magnolia against the illuminations that kept it visible in the dark skies of Tokyo-3. Shinji tensed and relaxed his trigger finger, anxious about the upcoming assault. Sweat was slightly visible and then disappeared into the transparent LCL, his breath was even, but harsh; the wait was always like that. "Y-Yes, ma'am," he stuttered out, trying his best to be strong.

Behind Eva Unit-01 stood Unit-00, the orange machine held a large shield shaped like the outline of a space shuttle. Ayanami waited and only watched the angel that glowed like ice in the distance. The mock-shield would have to do against the enemies particle beam cannon; even though it would not last the full amount of time needed, it would have to do.

"Commencing primary connections... Begin transmission of power from blocks 1 through 803."

The mountainside that supported the numerous trucks and coolant cylinders lit up in began humming at an increasing rate. From a distance, it almost appeared as if the sun was slowly rising from the east.

Misato faced the main visual screen and folded her arms under her chest, "Commence Operation Yashima!"

"Voltage rising... increasing pressure!"

"Cooling systems at MAX output!"

"Positron influx nominal"

"Secondary connections complete!"

"Accelerators engaging!"

"Activate convergence unit!"

Misato and Ritsuko stood silently. The blonde scientist showed only minors signs of nervousness; the slightly shaking hands in her lab coat's pockets and the way she slightly bit on her lip were evident signs of it. Misato looked like any captain should during an operation; eyes stern and showing no signs of weakness in the face of the enemy, the angel in this case. Her lips were pressed tight against each other, not wanting to allow her worry for her charge and Rei, was justification enough.

"Transfer all power to Mt. Futago Temporary sub-station!" Misato ordered out loud. "Release final safety system!"

"Tertiary connections nominal."

The bespectacled tech, Motoko Hyuuga, yelled, "Pull the hammer!"

Taking his order in and squinting his eyes in both fear and anxious anger, Shinji willed the Eva's hands to pull the hammer on the positron rifle. A section of the Throne of the Soul lifted itself out of place and lowered over the eyes of it's occupant. He looked upon the geometric shape in the sky and two other shapes closing in the center. Shinji's breath increased its rate as her waited for the three shapes to center on each other.

"Error correction for Earth's rotation is +0.0009."

Shinji clenched his teeth together as the shapes slowly met each other.

"Seventh and final connections engaged... Transmitting all energy to the positron rifle."

The Eva stood still and ready.

"Ten seconds to discharge.. nine... eight... seven..."

Inside of the sub-station, Maya Ibuki swiveled in her chair and faced her captain with wide eyes, "High energy reading within the target!"

'Damn, it's spotted us!' Misato bit into her lip. 'But if we can get in the first shot... we have a chance!'

The three shapes that faced Shinji finally center on each other. "Fire!"

Finally the time had come! Shinji bared his teeth in ire and alarm and willed his Eva to pull the trigger that his finger had been hovering over. An explosive light burst from the positron rifle, showering the nearby areas with the sun's presence. The angel's beam shot out simultaneous to it's enemy, The two swirling beams of luminous energy headed straight for each other. They were on the other's collision course; equal in power, speed, and malice.

The beams did not collide and they did not miss. Instead, the light meet each other in their paths and intertwined around each other, causing the lake underneath them to split in the epicenter. Once the beams of antimatter intertwined, they continued to their targets as best they could.

An immense explosion occurred when the angel's particle beam collided near Eva Unit-01, missing it by a few meters. The intense heat that was emitted only brought back recent memories for Shinji. He felt his still raw-feeling skin tighten as the Eva was taken in a cloud of dirt and smoke. His breath caught in his throat and he struggled not to pass out. Inside of the sub-station, the main monitors shattered into large and minute pieces, showering over the three techs, Ritsuko, and Misato. Everyone ducked where they could, but shards of glass embedded into the shoulder of the Hyuuga and left arm of Ibuki.

The beam that was sent towards the angel crashed into the mountainside near the outskirts of Tokyo-3; it missed completely.

"I missed..!"

The drill that had been digging into the very ground over NERV Headquarters pierced the final armor layer and punched through the hanging building that had sunk inside of NERV Headquarters. The center of the drill missed the buildings, but sent the debris that it had caused crashing onto the pyramid that lay underneath it. It did no damage to the reinforced armors of headquarters.

"The enemy drill has penetrated the geofront!" shouted Hyuuga, ignoring the small wound that had occurred.

"Shinji! The second shot-- hurry!"

Regaining his control, Shinji pulled on the controls of the Eva and willed the Eva to pull the hammer once more, dropping a large transparent shell on the ground below.

"Ex-changing the fuse now!" Ibuki staggered out her voice. The cut on her arm slowed her typing commands in down. "Begin recharging!"

"Get the barrel cooled down!" Misato ordered to the other male tech, Aoba Shigeru. Knowing that they were now blind on the outside scene, she opened voice only communication and did was she could, "Move it, Shinji! Buy us some time!"

The Evangelion lifted the positron rifle and pulled on the cords that acted as it's power source and jumped down the mountainside, crashing down within a few seconds.

Shiregu looked down at his console, "I'm getting another high energy reading from the target!"

'Damn it..! It's too soon.'

The angel released another particle beam cannon, sending it directly where Unit-01 just finished setting up the positron rifle. Shinji looked at the oncoming beam and his eyes went wide. All he heard was someone screaming his name as a scene from his life passed before his life.

_A small boy was walking, walking down the cracked and dirty streets of the desolate city. It was raining, but the rest of the world was not seen; only heard. Sounds of the rain hitting the empty cans and random pieces of machinery strewn about. His shoes hit the pavement with a 'clack', but nothing else but the rain touching everything around, and him, was heard._

_A small light appeared over a large clump of trash; but there was something that caught his eyes in the pile, a bicycle. The boy reached down and picked it up. It was slightly dented, but it was workable. He lifted it up and sat down on the seat. He started to peddle, slowly, making sure that he would not fall. Eventually, he was riding down the street. The water moved away from the steady speed of the tire, splashing against the bottom of the child's shoes._

_The child had a small smile on his lips; he was smiling again! The rain hit his face with a little more force, but he didn't care. He was leaving behind the troubles in the wind that could not keep up with him._

_A small white cat was ahead of him, but he could not stop in time. He started to brake and swerved to the right, trying to avoid the small feline, but the rain made the sidewalk too slippery and he had stopped to abruptly. He slide on the pavement, his knee taking most of the damage. The boy got up and clutched his knee, looking at the trickles of blood that covered him and then washed away. After a while, he noticed something soft, but wet, touch his leg. The small white cat purred against the child._

_It was about a minute before he tried to get up. He managed to get on his feet with only a small amount of pain. He started walking, looking for someone that could help him. A female police officer was walking by, and he waved to her, calling out for some help. She walked by and bent down to inspect his cut. The small boy looked at her, and she looked up at his wet face._

_"What's your name?" she asked._

_"Shinji Ikari..."_

_"Do you feel ok? Does it hurt much?"_

_"A little..."_

_Taking the young boy's hand, she began walking towards a distant location. "C'mon, I'll get that fixed up and then I'll call your parents." Hearing no response or defiance, she continued, "Who might they be, anyway?"_

_The answer came back with a bit of an edge, "Gendo Ikari."_

_"Oh... Well don't worry, we'll get you home soon."_

_Following both the female officer and the young boy, the white cat keep it's pace._

_The scene changed. The young boy sat across the table from the police officer; her long no longer concealed by the hood of her raincoat. Her long hair was bound near her neck, but continued into a long ponytail, but her eyes were concealed by the bangs of her hair. She lifted her head and hung up the phone she was on._

_"Your..." She could not think of words to convince the boy that his father was happy to hear from him. "Your father said your legal guardians are your uncle and aunt. Is this right?"_

_"... yes."_

_"Well... I'll call them to pick you up, ok?"_

_"Ok..."_

_The woman frown at the boy's obvious sadness. Normally, she would not care, but the boy seemed too much like someone she remembered. The memories were too much, so she walked up to boy and dropped to one knee. She looked into his sad blue eyes and placed her hand on his shoulder. He obviously knew that his father would not come, but he had asked anyway. "Hey... it'll be ok... look at me."_

_Hesitantly, he looked at her bay-colored eyes. She smiled at him and ruffled his hair playfully. "You shouldn't be so sad."_

_The boy lowered his gaze and said nothing. A knock was heard in the darkness of the room. The woman got up and opened the door the boy could not see. "Yeah..?" She looked back, "Mr. Ikari... your aunt is here."_

_"Mr. Ikari?.." he whispered quietly. He got up and walked towards her before stopping. "Miss... what's your name?"_

_"My name is Taini. Taini Yamagishi."_

"AAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

Shinji's life did not end, as he thought it might, instead the beam collided with something ahead of him, splitting the center of the blast and sending it around the obstacle. The light enveloped the world around him, the speed and rate of the particle beams fire caused the surrounding vegetation to be ripped apart and charred instantly.

Shinji opened his eyes and saw Unit-00 holding a shield in front of it, blocking his once imminent death. "Ayanami!" He lowered the positron rifle that he had lifted as a mock defense and pointed it towards where the angel would be. The shield started to melt and disintegrate under the might of the angel. It would not last.

"Ayanami!"

"The shield isn't going to last!" yelled the wide-eyed scientist.

Misato turned towards Hyuuga, "Are we ready to fire!"

"Ten more seconds!"

Shinji looked into the image of the angel and the two other geometric shapes that were trying to merge and tried his best not to panic. "Hurry... come on... she's going to die!" He pleaded to himself. Soon, too soon, the shield melted away, leaving Eva Unit-00 directly in the middle of the powerful blast. "AYANAMI!"

The yellow-orange Eva unit held its arms out and braced it's legs on the Earth beneath it's feet. The particle beam pushed it back, but the real damage was being done to the armor; which was already melting under it's rays. A small mass from the arm of Unit-00 melted away and allowed part of the beam to hit Unit-01 in the chest. Shinji grit his teeth and placed the rifle beside the falling Eva and waited for the procedure to finish. Too long... it was already going on too long. Then the images centered on one another; he would obliterate it for even thinking of killing her!

He pulled the trigger and bared his teeth in anger, feeling his revenge was at hand.

The positron fired and sent the stream of antimatter straight into the center of the angel. The lake was split in the wake of the beam and its waves reached it's height mark only after the beam shot straight through the angel, which sent the innards of the flaming wreckage flying over the city.

The whole of NERV cheered as they saw the angel's beam fade off. "We did it!"

Shinji, on the other hand, saw the angel tip over in the air and fall onto Tokyo-3 with only minor relief. There was still one thing left to do, the most important thing left, in his mind; the life of Rei Ayanami. He looked down from the his seat and saw the fallen figure of Unit-00. The armor had already melted to a degree. The mercurial metal shifted and sloshed onto the forest floor. "Ayanami!" Hearing no response in his vid-screen, he clutched the controls. The Eva grabbed the back of Unit-00's neck and lifted the seal that kept the entry plug inside. Tossing the panel aside, the entry plug was pushed out of the Eva and released it's heated LCL. 'Wait for me!' He grabbed the entry plug and set it down as gently and quickly as he could on the forest floor. 'I'll save you... I have to..!'

He pulled back the controls and his entry plug was released from the Eva. Quickly, he exited the plug and climbed down the purple machine and ran towards the entry plug that was still clutched by Unit-01's right hand. Once he reached the door, he slammed his fist on the plug and called out to her. "Ayanami, you okay in there!" No response. He placed his hands over the superheated hatch and pulled them lose. He felt the heat burnt through his plug suit's material, but he didn't care. With all the force he could muster, he twisted the hatch's handle and pulled the door open. Shinji covered his eyes as smoke poured out, but entered anyway. "Ayanami!"

Stepping in the warm LCL that remained, he walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her, trying to wake her. "Ayanami! Are you okay? Ayanami!"

Her eyes slowly opened. The smoke had not cleared, but she saw a figure over her, trying to its best to revive her. "Commander?.." Once the smoke cleared out and the cold air entered the plug, the image became clear. "... Ikari?"

"Ayanami!.. I-" he wiped at the tears that were building at the corners of his eyes. "I'm glad... that you're alive."

She didn't response right away. What a strange thing to say, after all. "You're... crying again..."

Shinji stopped wiping away the tears. "You were crying yesterday... in your sleep." Shinji kneel down next to the throne of the soul and placed his hand on it's cold steel frame. "Why are you so sad?" That questioned seemed unreal.

"That's not it, Ayanami! I'm crying because I'm happy... I'm happy that you're alive."

"...because you're happy? That I'm alive?.,. So you cry when you're happy, too." Rei laid back into her seat and crossed her arms over her stomach, "I'm sorry... I... I'm not sure what expression I should make at a time like-- like this." Shinji wiped at his tears as she continued, "Even though I should be happy."

"Well, if your happy-- you should smile." He emphasize his point by smiling the best he could.

Rei looked back towards Ikari and looked at the expression on his face. The silent went on only for a few seconds this time; she tried to get up, but could not.

"Can you stand?" Shinji offered his hand, which she looked at first. She placed her hand over his and looked directly at him. Shinji was confused as to why she did not attempt to lift herself, but soon found himself speechless. Rei Ayanami was smiling, a smile that he could only describe as what that smile had done to him. 'Breathtaking...'

"What's the matter?" She asked. He was staring at her with his mouth slightly parted.

Realizing that he had been staring at her for far too long, he blushed faintly and draped her arm around his shoulder. "Ugh... nothing... L-Let's go." Shinji walked lifted her up and, as gently as possible, carried her out of the entry plug and placed her feet down on solid Earth. He would had gladly carried her the full way to safety, but the cold air didn't do a thing for him, but it did, apparently, for her.

--

Mayumi awoke from her sleep with a minor haze. She did not feel the small frame of her sister in her arms and she began to panic; that was until he looked up to see the class representative standing over her, with Aiko standing beside her. Hikari had a smile on her face; not a rare thing by any means, but seemed a bit too much like her sisters. "Hikari? Why are you looking at me like that?" Mayumi asked, dusting off her pale yellow vest.

"Well.. it seems like your 'Shinji' has done it again!" teased Hikari.

Mayumi's eyes went wide and her back straighten up. Teasing did not seem to be something that the class representative would be good at.. unless.. "Aiko! What have you told her!" she asked with a small huff.

Aiko looked away and started to whistle.

The class representative smiled and offered her hand to Mayumi, "I'm sorry, but Aiko told me it would be fun."

"Hmm.. it wasn't for me!"

Aiko turned around and smiled mischievously, "So what are you gonna do for your boooooyyfriiiiend? I mean, he saved our lives once again.. maybe he deserves a kiss?"

"He's just my good friend!" She argued, "He's just... Shinji is not my boyfriend!"

--

"Ayanami..."

Both Rei and Shinji sat near a tree that had not been uprooted by the explosion. They would have continued forward, but Shinji thought that Rei was in no condition to be on her feet, at least not now. Her legs were weak and there was a pain in her arm; and despite her petite and supple form, he would not be able to lift her all the way to safety, especially since he was injured as well. The pain in his heart never fully went away.

"...please don't say "goodbye," when you leave on a mission... it makes me worry about whether you'll be okay or not..."

Ayanami looked a him, but he did not look back. He had more to say.

"We might not have anything besides the Eva program right now... but, well..." Shinji stopped as he felt a small trickle of blood escape his lips. Taking notice, he quickly and subtly wiped it away. "...as long as we stay alive... someday we'll be glad that we survived."

The lights of several rescue workers appeared in the forest; and Misato's voice was clear. "Shinji! Rei!"

Shinji placed Rei's arm around his shoulders and gently lifted her towards the lights and Misato's voice. "It might be far away in the future... but, until then... let's try to live on, Ayanami."

Rei looked at the expression on Shinji's face; but seeing only the look of deep thought, she continued to listen to him. "Even on a black and empty street... if we go together... we might one day find something."

Rei's grip on Shinji, subconsciously at first, got a bit tighter.

"Like the moon that floats in the darkness."

--

To be continued

--

Author's Notes: Edited This has been slightly edited so it can look and be more... well... readable and understandable. Not too much, though.

It's been awhile since I last updated, I suppose. I hope this chapter makes up for the long wait.

All in all, I think it came out good enough. As for the story being all late and shit, this originally was meant to be two chapters, but I realized that it would just look and sound better together. I've been busy with school (it is my senior year, after all), and the pressure is mounting up! That and I'm hoping to go to a good college. So yeah.

Who is Taini Yamagishi? You'll just have to wait and find out. (It should be pretty obvious).

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy.

Thank you for all the reviews and your honesty.

This is the fifth chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

The morning ritual began as normal-- Misato woke up, her hair a mess, a scratching hand on her flat stomach and her eyes red with fatigue. Shinji was happily eating away at his piece of toast while Pen-Pen did the same with his piece of salmon. Both occupants of the house of Katsuragi stared at the owner with deadpanned expressions-- well Pen-Pen just stared. Shinji looked at her clothes and he gave a lopsided grin-- the teasing would come and go, but perhaps he could try and actually fight back this time? It was worth a shot, but she would have to get out of morning haze first. Misato walked towards one the large refrigerators, not surprisingly the larger one, and retrieved her morning beer. With one quick gulp, Misato downed, what Shinji considered, the disgusting fluid. It was amazing that she didn't just fall asleep after that, but instead, she just woke up.

"Yeeeehaaaaaa!" The now partially drunken woman bellowed out, "That's the way to start your morning!"

Shinji lifted his cup and sipped his tea-- he had enough of the coffee. "What's wrong with just plain tea?" He stated with a serious yet somehow comical expression.

"You got something wrong with tradition?" She shot back, putting one knee off her chair and propping the other up as she placed both feet on the seat. "Don't you know the traditional Japanese breakfast has steamed rice, miso soup, and a little sake?"

Let the teasing begin! "Your tradition maybe."

Her eyes sharpen on the bluntness of his words. "Excuse me?"

"Anyway, who's turn was it cook today?" He slide a plate with her toast on it. "Aah... now I know why a woman your age is still single. Trying that hard to be an old maid Misato?"

Catching on to his game, she twitched her eyebrow and tried to think of something, anything to get him with. Nothing came to mind, "Are you saying that I'm lazy?"

"And sloppy too."

"Errr... just leave me alone!" She huffed in defeat.

"I'm done." Shinji got up, put his plate and any other utensils laying around into the sink. He turned the faucet on and did Misato's morning chores for her. It's not like he could say no or anything like that... though if he really didn't want to he'd just say so. After all, saying no to Misato, or anyone for that matter, just wasn't in his nature. While he washed the dishes, Misato faced Shinji's as he washed and brought her feet of the ground, folding her legs onto the chair. She grabbed her ankles and ate her toast without holding it-- just another reason that Shinji did not see as an authority figure, but more as an older sister. "My boob is itchy." An immature older sister.

"Nice of you to inform me." He tried his best not to blush as she scratched herself. 'I can't believe I find that-- naaah... just in my mind.' Luckily, he knew how to change the subject. "So, Misato... are you really going to my school today?"

"Of course I am!-- awww damn." She looked down at the piece of toast as it hit the floor. "It's your parent-teacher meeting today!"

"But your just so busy at work..."

"Oh it's no problem! Besides, you can get a chance to show off your girlfriend off at school." She tried to be as casual as usual about it.

"M-Mayumi isn't my girlfriend!" Then it happened. He had fallen for it again!

"I was talking about myself-- just to tease you!" She huffed, though it was obvious she was playing. "But since you got all defensive about it..."

Shinji simply blushed and continued washing-- saying anything would just make her go on and on about his and Mayumi's relationship. It was just friendship... that was all! Misato just grinned at her payback for that old maid comment. Shows him for trying to out tease Misato Katsuragi. "Oh, and don't bother going to school right now. I'll just put something on and I'll drive you."

"W-Why do you wanna do that?" he stammered.

"Why else? I wanna make sure no other girls try and make a pass at you. Call it woman's intuition, but Mayumi seems like the jealous type."

Somehow he knew that this would end up causing him so much more pain than the angels could ever do. Sad thing was, it probably would.

--

With the knowledge that he would soon see his friends, Shinji sat in the back seat of Misato's car, buckled up to the point of suffocation-- he had driven with Misato before after all, and waited. He had not seen Mayumi for some time and he was looking forward to it. Though in reality he had no idea what he would talk to her about. He wasn't very good with talking to the opposite sex, much less being friendly with them. But it would be okay. After all, she was the one who had talked to him first; though the reason why didn't allow for much friendless then. He laid back in the seat and let the wind blow through his hair, sighing at his fatigue and the trouble he would have writing down anything in class. As wrong as that may sound, it was not as it sounded. Shinji had his hands burnt, straight through the plug suit's material. He had been forced to wear gloves which Ritsuko had supplied him. He disliked them.

The gloves that he put on looked too much like his father's. But, he couldn't argue against Ritsuko-- his hands felt raw. He had to wear them. The skin was not misshapen or distorted, they were just red and felt a bit numb. The cool water of the faucet had comforted him temporarily, but he couldn't wash dishes that were already cleaned. Shinji raised and looked at the white gloves on his hands and sighed. He would look like a fool.

Even though the school was about 7 blocks away from his apartment, it only took about five minutes to get to school, despite the heavy traffic. The blue sports car, Alpine Renalt, swerved and found it's proper place in the parking spaces. After all, parallel parking while going 60 was something only Misato could do with a yawn escaping her mouth.

Misato got out first. The boys of Shinji's classroom hung out of the windows, drooling over Shinji's guardian, and whooped for her. Misato smiled at them and decided to give Shinji some popularity points. Shinji stepped out of the car and tried his best to stay steady on his feet. Misato hooked her arm with Shinji's and gave him a peck on the cheek before practically shoving him forwards so that he would lead her towards their destination. Shinji, to his credit, managed to keep his head from exploding and tried his best not to die from embarrassment. The boys who seemed to hang outside of the school's windows whistled in approval or booed in jealousy.

Unbeknownst to Shinji, the girls in his class had mixed reactions; mostly about boys being morons. Hikari stood besides two other female classmates with equally malicious looks on their faces. Though the class representative knew about Ikari and his guardian, it still made her insecure-- probably as much as the other girls in the class. But something was off. She could have sworn that Rei Ayanami had glanced out the window when someone shouted about Ikari and his guardian. It normally wouldn't mean anything, but for her, it was a change in tendencies for the pale skinned girl. But she disregarded it as a play of tricks on her mind. Hikari looked out and saw Ms. Katsuragi as she was, at least it kind of looked like she was, lead away by Shinji. Seeing the amount of cleavage that Ms. Katsuragi had, Hikari clutched the folder she had in her hands to her chest. Her eyes traveled around the room to find a few other girls doing something similar; that made her feel a bit more relieved. Her eyes darted across the room and landed on Mayumi. She seemed to be thinking about something-- her head was lowered and her eyes were covered by the lengthy bangs of her hair. Poor girl. She must have been really worried about him.

Shinji walked into the classroom minutes later-- gloves and all. He looked around the classroom and found who he was looking for, but what he wanted to see. Mayumi was sitting in her seat, her eyes avoiding his own, intentionally. He stopped in his tracks for a minute, but soon walked over into his seat as people started to whisper. Moving hastily, he took his seat near the middle of the class. 'Is she angry..?' he thought sadly. The first half of the day was spent in thought; with minor attention paid to the lessons being given by the substitute teacher. The lunch bell rang and everyone started to leave the classroom, going to their own little parts of the school to hang out. By the time everyone else left, only Mayumi and Shinji were left.

Mayumi had no where to really be, nor did she pack a lunch; but she sat in her seat and tried to ignore the pilot of Unit-01 as long as she could. Shinji stood up slowly and gathered the little bit of courage he had and walked over to her. He wanted to know what was wrong, even if it was about him.

"Hi... Mayumi."

Mayumi didn't respond at first, but she couldn't ignore him. "Hello."

Shinji looked down at his shoes and swallowed the lump that had developed in his throat. What could he have possible done to deserve such a cold shoulder? "I... I was kind of wondering why, um... well... if you were mad at me about something... since you didn't talk to me..."

Mayumi's eyes twitched as she couldn't keep up with her charade. She just couldn't-- No matter how much she tried to force it. "I was just..." Seeing the sadness in his eyes just made her give up her on pretending. "I'm sorry, Shinji. I was worried about you and... I guess I was just trying to pretend that I didn't. I don't know why. It was stupid..."

"Ooh..!" A small smile appeared on him, "I was worried that... you didn't want to talk to me anymore or maybe that I did something wrong." He mentally slapped himself for thinking that. "But you don't have to worry, I'm fine."

"That's good... " She wanted to get off the subject quickly. "How about we get out of here?"

"S-Sure."

Mayumi lead Shinji towards the back of the school. It was past the place that they had met; passed the tree that seemed to have sunk more and more into the ground, allowing more and more of the stagnant water to flow in. Both sat down in the grassy hill that made up the natural border of the south part of the school. The soft grass was an ideal place for her, so Mayumi went there often-- be it to escape the loud noises of the school to read or just to be alone. It was the exact same place that Hikari had found Mayumi; but it still seemed like a place of solitude. Shinji sat next to her, awkwardly avoiding looking at her. Even if they were friends, she was still a member of the opposite sex. Shinji painfully noticed that.

Then Mayumi noticed something that she failed to see before. "Shinji... why are you wearing gloves?"

The third child frowned and looked at the white gloves that covered his sensitive hands. "I-I got burned."

"Doing what?"

Shinji looked away from her and looked at the school with no real interest. He didn't really want to talk about it-- but he couldn't refuse her. "I had to open the hatch of the entry plug... you know, the thing you climbed into during the first angel attack."

Now with her shyness replaced with both concern and curiosity, she pushed the question. "Why did you have to do that!" She reached out and grabbed his hands. Shinji flinched at the sudden pressure on his hands and let out a stifled gasp. Mayumi let go with an embarrassed blush on her face. "I'm sorry..."

Shinji gently rubbed his hands through the soft fabric and smiled as the blush he liked to see returned to Mayumi's delicate and peach colored skin. "It's ok... it's just a little raw... Anyway, you asked why I burned them." His smiled disappeared. "I had to open the hatch with my hands, because Rei was trapped inside. The angel attacked me, but she jumped in front of me and block the particle beam from boiling me alive... again. Once I killed it, the damage had already been done to Rei's Eva... so I had to save her... returning the favor, I guess." Shinji continued his encounter with the angel, starting from the beginning-- how he couldn't fight the first time and how he was boiled in LCL. He of course casually ignored how he had seen Rei in her more... natural form.

Mayumi took all of what was being said with mixed emotions. She was relieved that he was safe; albeit injured, but she was jealous. Jealous that he had saved Rei? It seemed like it. It was more along the lines of how he describe the way he had saved her and how she had opened up to him-- if only for a split second. 'How messed up am I? I should be glad that he managed to save all of our lives... but why am I always resentful towards her?' It just didn't make sense to her.

"Mayumi? Are you okay?" He turned to face her after a frown developed on her face. "Mayumi?"

"I'm sorry, Shinji... here you are, alive and well after so much-- and I was acting like a jerk."

"It's ok... I mean I may be a little raw but... I had to save Aya--"

Shinji stopped in mid-sentence as Mayumi's arms encircled him. His breath caught in his throat as her embraced tighten around his chest. Even though from a third person perspective, it may have appeared to be an affectionate embrace between lovers, Mayumi knew she was just doing it to so he would not say that he risked himself for her. "Mayumi?" He couldn't find the right words to say, so he simply held her as she held onto him tightly. Needless to say, afterwards, it was an extremely awkward moment for both of them. Shinji started to regret telling her about what went on during the attack. If she had only gotten close to him because she felt sorry for him-- Shinji shook his head. It didn't really matter. As long as he could repay her for her kindness.

Mayumi turned her head on his chest and started at the movement of the grass as the wind passed through it's dark green texture. "I'm sorry... it's just that... I'm glad your safe. I mean, you almost died!" She struggled

"Mayumi... I'm sorry-- " his words were cut off when her hold on him got tighter-- something that seemed more out of desperation than affection.

"Don't apologize, okay? You saved me..." Her russet eyes glazed over with a coat of tears-- but she wouldn't let it go past that. She couldn't cry over something that would later seem over-dramatic. It was just a moment between intimate friends. Only that.

Shinji embraced her back and ran his fingers soothingly through the strands of her long sable-colored hair. He would, under normal circumstances, never be so close and intimate with anyone; but he couldn't possible think of disappointing her. Just not her.

The rest of the lunch period was spent in awkward silence.

--

"So she's going to transfer into our school in a few days?"

Shinji, Mayumi, and Hikari were in their classroom after school, sweeping away at the dirt and cleaning the desks that littered the classroom. Normally, Hikari would assign two people to help clean the classroom, and that is exactly what she did. She had assigned herself and Mayumi for today, mostly so they could talk about a few things, but Shinji was there, so talking about him would be awkward. As for why Shinji was there, Hikari didn't know why, but she could guess it was due to Mayumi. The thought of that brought a blush to Hikari's cheek. She never had much a romance life, so seeing how Shinji awkwardly avoided Mayumi's stares and how Mayumi tried to avoid Shinji's stares was very entertaining. But despite their obvious, at least Hikari thought so, mutual affection to one another... neither one would ever bring it up. That made Hikari sigh indignantly.

Hikari leaned her broom against the door and wiped away the small amount of sweat on her forehead with her forearm. Her eyebrows raised with mild amusement. Mayumi had been talking to her about how her little sister, Aiko, was going to transfer into their school, but it seemed now that her time was better spent looking at Shinji as he cleaned the board. She smirked at the small blush that was visible on Mayumi's cheeks. It was a shame that if she didn't try to help her, Mayumi would probably never tell the shy boy how she felt. Now, if only she knew what do...

Mayumi, finally catching on to why Hikari had that weird smile on her face, looked away from Shinji and continued to wipe the desks clean with a bit too much vigor. A small blush crept up on her face, betraying her promise of not making it look like she fell for the shy boy. 'I don't like him like that... I can't... it's just that he promised to prote--' Mayumi's train of thought was cut off when Hikari grabbed her arm.

"Calm down, Mayumi. Your going to polish right through it!" She laughed slightly at her friends frantic attempt to cover up her obvious reasons for losing track of what she was doing.

"I-I was just thinking about something..." Her blush disappeared.

Hikari let go of Mayumi and ran her hands through the light brown strands of her pony tails with a meek smile. "Any... one in particular?" She smiled as Shinji's spine straighten for a second, before going back to work.

Mayumi shot the class representative an icy a stare as well as she could muster. It didn't really intimidate her. "I was thinking about, Aiko!"

Getting the hint, Hikari grinned. "Right... anyway, you said that she was transferring in, right?"

"Yeah... Mom barely got around the signing the forms." Her eyes sharpened a bit. "She's usually too busy at work, so... it took awhile." Mayumi swallowed the lump of tension in her throat and avoided Hikari's eyes. She instead met with Shinji's deep azure eyes. Her expression softened. "Are you looking forward to seeing the cute little runt again?" Before Shinji could answer, she continued. "She has been looking forward to seeing you again."

Shinji dusted himself off and smirked at Mayumi's attempt to tease him. He had developed an immunity of sorts. "Yeah, I am. It's been awhile since she gave me that little peck on the cheek." While he didn't expect the sable-haired girl to frown at him, he still found the situation humorous, so he let out a small laugh which he didn't try to hide very well. Hikari did the same and turned her attention towards the object of Mayumi's affection. "That wasn't very nice, Ikari." Of course, she made sure that she didn't say it harshly enough for it too sound serious. Shinji just laughed-- not really knowing why.

"Okay, okay, you two. I think everything is done. Let's put everything away, so we can go home." Hikari had to keep some order.

--

Shinji and Mayumi stood on the concrete steps that lead into the main building of their school. Across from them was a very content Hikari. The pair knew why the class representative was smiling, they even knew why Hikari decided to take the long way home, but they couldn't do much to stop her. Mayumi drew her arms across her chest and clutched her bag tightly. It wasn't that she didn't want to walk home with Shinji, it was just that Hikari seemed to be trying a bit too hard to get herself and Shinji together. She sighed and gave a look of slight embarrassment towards her friend.

"Are you sure you have to go that way home?" Mayumi moved a strand of hair off of her glasses. "Shinji and I wouldn't mind walking with you..."

"No. I have some things to pick up from the grocery store." Her cheery aura hid her deviously calculated thoughts. With that last excuse, Hikari left the two standing at the steps of the school, hoping that one of them would say something romantic to each other. Mayumi walked over to the side of the building and unchained the bike that was in a nearby rail. She brought it over to Shinji and placed her bag and chain inside of a small basket in the front of the bike. Shinji ran his right hand over the smooth metal, feeling the cold sensation of the dark blue paint. Mayumi's eyes shot open when she felt something warm touch her hand-- Shinji, whether by accident or not, had placed his hand over hers. If anyone had know Shinji for more than two minutes, they would know that he had done this unintentionally. He withdrew his hand and avoided her blushing face.

"I-I'm sorry, Mayumi. I d-didn't mean to..." He stammered out.

Mayumi didn't look at him either, instead she got onto her bike. "It's ok. I understand." She gave Shinji the shy, flushed smile that he had grown accustomed to. Mayumi slowly pedaled towards her house, Shinji walked as fast as he needed to, making sure not to fall too far behind.

The sun was starting to set and the wind started to move faster and grew colder. They had made it to the front porch of Mayumi's house and were currently sitting on the stone steps that led inside. Shinji was sitting next to the black-haired beauty, he considered her so, and wondered why she was hesitant about him leaving so soon. After all, Aiko was probably inside, waiting for her older sister to come home. He didn't complain, though. Shinji did not have much of luck with women, so leaving his female friend alone when she had asked him to stay a bit longer was not an option for him. Though sitting together outside of her house without saying a word did seem a bit pointless.

Mayumi dropped her bag onto the steps and stared off at the city lights that seemed so far-off that it almost seemed like a mirage. They weren't particularly interesting, but Hikari's little plan had made her nervous around him. It almost made her think that she thought of Shinji in that way. He was her friend first and Eva pilot second. There was no room for anything more. Mayumi sighed and brought her knees to her chest and tipped her glass upward before they moved too far down her nose. 'It was stupid of me to tell him to stay. I'm just wasting his time.' Mayumi slyly moved her eyes to her right, trying to get a view of Shinji's expression. He wasn't bored, it seemed. He wasn't happy. He wasn't sad-- but he did seem to be looking at something past the lights of Tokyo-3. The distant look in his eyes made Mayumi both curious and... something else she could not put into words. But she had seen that look before. After the fight with the angel with the glowing tentacles, both had traveled to the outlook at the outskirts of Tokyo-3-- it was there that she had seen the Evangelion pilot stare off into the distance, a deep and philosophical look in his eyes that screamed of both mental turmoil and deep deliberation. She loved and hated that look.

Mayumi scooted a bit closer to him, trying to be as subtle and slow as possible. Slowly and deliberately, she closed the gap between them and leaned her head on Shinji's shoulder. His reaction didn't surprise her; it was the same as the last time. Shinji's spine straighten with an almost audible snap, and his eyes went wide in surprise-- before finally releasing the tension from his back and allowing Mayumi to rest on him. It was predictable, but Mayumi loved it as if it was a completely new experience. "Shinji..."

After some time, Shinji managed to speak through his dry throat. "Y-Yeah?"

The sable-haired girl paused. She had not thought about what to say to him, but had merely said his name in the comfort she had felt in the small gesture. There was a crystalline silence in the air for a few seconds; nothing seemed to move or make a sound, as if the world itself held it's breath for the answer to an unknown question. She said the only thing that popped into her head. "Thank you... for keeping your promise to me." It might have been to save her from embarrassment, but she was truly grateful to him. Such altruism to, what she once was, a complete stranger, showed just how selfless Shinji truly was. Whether it was only for her and Aiko didn't really matter to her.

"It's ok... you don't have to thank me..." Shinji was never one to gloat, even when he knew that he had every right to. Nevertheless, he did appreciate her words of gratitude. He would piloted the Eva either way. Whether it was for Misato, Rei, Hikari or simply because he had nothing else in life, he still would have piloted the Eva. Knowing that his efforts saved the life of Mayumi and Aiko, whether they even cared or not, was more than enough for him to go on. The pain... the pain could be dealt with... for how long, he did not know. How many angels would come from the depths of the Earth; from the bottomless seas; from the endless skies, before they stopped? How much longer did he have to fight? Unconsciously, Shinji moved one of his gloved-covered hands through the silk-like strands of Mayumi's hair, gently caressing the back of her head. Mayumi froze in place at the unexpected contact. She wasn't exactly being coy; she was leaning against him and laying her head down on his shoulder-- but it still was a surprise. "Shinji..?"

Finally taking notice of his actions, Shinji recoiled his hand and blushed furiously. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, Mayumi! I was just... ugh..." Mayumi, in an unexpected act of boldness, moved away from Shinji and laid down on the steps of her home, letting the back of her head rest on Shinji's left leg. Both blushed, but both also insisted on avoiding the reason why they were even in that situation. Mayumi looked up at the sideways image of Shinji's flushed face and smiled at him.

"What did I tell you? Stop apologizing all the time." With a playful slap to his stomach, Mayumi straighten the wrinkles from her skirt and leaned back against his leg. 'This is nice...' she commented limply. 'Maybe Hikari wa--'. Red images flashed in front of her eyes. A knife and a fallen father.

Shinji looked down to see Mayumi's eyes shut tightly behind her glasses, tears slowly appearing at the corner of her closed eyes. Her hands clutched at her chest and she began gasping. Whimpers escaped through the sudden spikes of sobs that escaped past her lips. "Mayumi!" Shinji grasped her shoulders and drew her limp form close to him. He started to panic. He looked everywhere, looking for someone to help. Anyone. It never occurred to him that Mayumi was trying her best to look at him, asking him to help her. "Sh-- Shinji. It hurts..." Shinji, finally out of his trance, looked down at her downcast and pained eyes and then down to where she was clutching-- her chest; her heart! 'A heart attack? She's only my age! What do I do? What do I do!'

The city erupted in noise and was bathed in the red of sirens! 'The alarm?.. Angel! Another angel, now? Why now!'

The siren's cry pierced the crystal silence of Mayumi's home, but it didn't cover Mayumi's cries of pain-- not to him. Shinji took out his cell phone and, before he could even dial, Misato's name popped up on the screen.

"Misato! Mayumi's hurt! She's--"

"Where are you! We need you at NERV-- The MAGI have detected another angel!"

"I'm at Mayumi's house-- please Misato! She needs help!"

"I'm on my way!"

Mayumi's mind raced with images of her horrible youth. All she could see beyond the transparent red that surrounded her mind was the fallen image of her father. "F-father..." she cried out, snapping Shinji's attention back towards her and away from the streets that he had been expected seeing someone on. "Don't d-die..." She passed out from the pain near her heart.

The door leading into the house opened up, revealing a very startled Aiko. "Mayumi?" Fear struck her features as she realized who Shinji was cradling. She ran down the few steps and hugged her sisters' listless form. She repeated her name over and over, "Mayumi, Mayumi, Mayumi!" Mayumi's hand squeezed her younger sister's hand, stopping any potential tears from leaving her eyes. The moment did not last long; the sound of screeching tires broke the constant sound of the blaring sirens. Misato stepped out of her car and ran over to Shinji. "Shinji! What happened to her?" She ran her hands over the still warm skin of Mayumi.

Shinji did not answer-- he was too scared, too frightened out of his wit at the thought of losing her. Instead, he picked up her light form and placed her in the back seat of Misato's car. He laid her down across the back seat and stood on one knee, not wanting to too close to her. He must have done something to do this! How could he hurt her? 'How! 'What did I do now...' he thought sadly, hints of anger lining his thoughts.

Aiko, seeing that there was no room in the back, regretfully ran to the front seat and sat down-- never sitting in place. She kept her eyes on her sister. 'What's wrong, Mayumi?' She asked with panic in her heart. 'What can I possibly do?'

She never missed a beat. Misato ran to her side of the car, as Shinji placed Mayumi in the back seat, and drove quickly as possible to NERV HQ. The streets appeared almost as nothing but a blur; but Misato could always see past the sliced wind and past the distorted lights. The blue sports car tore through the empty streets of Tokyo-3, taking every turn in stride, despite the screech of the already worn tires.

The angel appeared in the sky and the sirens continued to wail.

--

Misato stood in the command center, no longer in the caring and teasing persona that Shinji had grown accustom to, but she was in her 'no bullshit', mode. Her subordinates typed away at their consoles and the technicians prepared for the lift off of Units 00 and 01. Orders were shouted from every angle and place, every word entering Misato's ear and exiting through her actions and orders. It was the fanfare before the symphony, conducted by her and performed by the mechanical beasts and the children that drove their detrimental hands.

Shinji placed his plug suit on with no real energy, listlessly pushing the button on the suit's wrist that allowed it to form fit to him. Lines of weariness appeared underneath his eyes-- an after affect from his fright and concern over his beloved friend. He regretted leaving her side, but Misato promised him that she would be under NERV medical attention. That still did not make him feel any better. With a sigh and a heavy heart, Shinji left the changing room and walked over to the elevator that led to the Evangelion cages. Shinji clenched and relaxed his fist as the elevator lifted in towards his Evangelion.

On the catwalk, Shinji saw Ayanami walking towards her Evangelion. This would not have bothered him had Unit-00 not been damaged. The melted armor of Unit-00 was hardened, but it's distorted armor looked as if small spikes and whirls of twisted metal were used for additional defense-- something about that bothered him. With his eyes still lined with emotional fatigue, Shinji walked over to Rei. She of course noticed him quickly and turned to face him-- her right arm clasping onto her left.

"Ikari."

"Ayanami," His words sounding as tired as he looked, "Why are you going? Your Eva is damaged-- you might get hurt."

"I realize this, but it is Commander Ikari's orders." Her voice did not change, but her eyes... something about them told Shinji that she had a question she did not feel like asking. "The angel's sheer magnitude has made it clear that Unit-01 might not be enough to combat it."

"It's that big?" The rhetorical question seemed to hang in the air. "Well, try not to get hurt, okay? I don't need to see you hurt, too." And with that, Shinji walked in step with Rei until they came to a fork in the building.

"Ikari?"

Shinji stopped in mid-movement. "Yes, Ayanami?"

For once, Rei hesitated in her questioning of things that she wished to find out. "I'll ask you later. At a more appropriate time."

Shinji gave her a weary smile-- he didn't want her to worry about him; he had enough concerns on his mind. The last thing he needed was to have Rei's concern over him, at least that's what he thought it was, and worry over the life of his best friend. Hopefully a smile, even if it was forced, might ease her mind. Making a 180, Shinji walked towards his Evangelion with revenge slowly fueling his emotionally shot body. That would have to be enough.

He threw off the gloves on his hands and clenched his fists.

That angel would feel the extent of his wrath.

--

Over the flame colored skies of Tokyo-3, a large angel floated between three of the taller buildings that did not retract inside of the Earth. The large segmented sections that made up the angel's 'body', rotated against on another, and it's large oval-ish, aubergine body floated directly over NERV HQ. The angel's segments looked menacing and were as deliberately malicious as the spikes that protruded from it's body and glistened a deep crimson in the flame skies. The bottom of it's body had numerous appendages-- arms that appeared mechanical. The angel's macabre appearance made even Misato question their chances for victory-- but that was only for a moment. Misato opened the shouted downwards at the tech next her, "Maya! Is Shinji ready for combat?"

"Yes, ma'am." Maya pressed a purple colored key at the top of her keyboard. "Shinji has just entered the entry-plug."

A booming voice came from top of the Command Center platform. "Have the pilot of Unit-01 take the point. Unit-00 will back-up Unit-01."

Misato turned around, shocked at the command given, "Commander! Unit-00 is heavily damaged-- it's not battle-ready!" With silence being his only response, Misato turned around and faced the main monitor. 'Damn... I know the angel came unexpectedly, but Unit-00's armor hasn't been replaced yet! What is he thinking!' Misato just had no idea how unexpected the angel really was.

Up in the highest platform of the Command Center, Gendo Ikari sat in his chair, his elbows supporting his weight and fingers intertwined in front of him, and was mentally revising his plans. This angel was not in his scenario. The next angel, the next threat to mankind, was suppose to be a creature from the depths of the seas-- the manifestation of the angry waves which have taken the cities of yore under it's tremendous embrace. Gendo frown beneath his hands-- the scenario would have to be changed.

The scenario had already changed too much for the Commander's liking. Evangelion Unit-03 was far behind schedule due to insufficient funds-- Evangelion Unit-04 would not have the S2 Engine implanted in it; and now, this angel dared to just show up in the middle of Tokyo-3? Yes, the scenario would need to be extensively changed.

Meanwhile, Misato stood in the Command Center and waited for the Angel to move, attack, or do anything other than just float in the center of those three buildings and having those damned scrawny mechanical arms dangle and wiggle in the air. It's constant state just angered Misato-- how was she suppose to fight it, without knowing it's abilities? Tacticians needed something to go by. Something to understand their enemies capabilities, strengths, and, most of all, weaknesses. With nothing happening for several minutes, Misato gave the order to deploy Unit's 00 and 01 at a safe distance.

Hearing the loud click of the launch pad, Shinji grit his teeth in anger from too long a wait. He saw the silver-grey of the twenty-one titanium armor layers rush past him in mere seconds. Eventually, the orange-yellow sky came into view and his target. The angel seemed to be half the size the size of the three large buildings that seemed to house the angel-- but it might as well have been an oversized blowfish. There was no way, no matter how grotesque it may appear, that the angel would be the death of him. Shinji turned to his left and say the twisted armor of Unit-00 and frowned. He would be the first to strike the monstrosity.

Rei looked on at the angel with expressionless eyes, but she was frightened inside. It seemed to be a perfect fortress. It was at least 10 times the size in length, and even more than that in width, of her Evangelion. The spikes which jutted out of it's oval body would rule out hand-to-hand combat-- the only option would be long ranged firefight. With that in mind, Rei opened up her connection with Shinji. "Ikari. It appears to be too dangerous to engage it in direct combat. We should retrieve long range weaponry."

Shinji looked at the floating object and then at the image of his fellow pilot. After some mental deliberation, Shinji opened up the connection with Misato. "Misato... to you still have that positron rifle?" He looked at the image of a frowning Misato and, underneath it, the image of Rei. "Ayanami... I want you to back me up. Your Eva is too damaged to fight anywhere near it!"

Misato cut in. "I'm afraid that the positron rifle is no longer in our possession; and it would take too long to for it to be delivered here, not to mention the time it would take to set it up."

"Isn't there any other weapon that would keep Ayanami in a safe distance!" Shinji hastened his questions. Rei did not say anything-- she didn't know why he was trying to keep her from the angel, despite that her Evangelion was still of some use. So she stayed quite and observed.

"I'm sorry, Shinji. All we have are the standard rifles." She ordered one of the technicians to send rifles to their closest locations. "Now, both of you, retrieve the rifles and fire from a safe distance."

Both pilots did as were told and retrieve their rifles; covering behind the buildings that were large enough to completely cover them. Shinji was getting impatient at all the waiting. How far would he get simply hiding behind some steel and stone? His Eva clutched the barrel of the rifle with a bit too much pressure; the rifle cracked under the weight of the Eva's hands. Rei stayed calm and collected.

And the flame skies turned a menacing dark.

--

Aiko was sitting in the corner of the command center, watching everything.

The massive size of the Evangelions would have amazed her. The way Misato ordered everyone around and kept control of everything would have amazed her. But, the only thing on her mind was the condition of her dear sister.

She was waiting for her, all alone in that cold house, waiting for Mayumi to come home, so she could show off her new school uniform to her. She was so excited to be in the same school as her sister and getting the chance to become better friends with Shinji. How sad that the first thing she saw, as soon as she opened the doors from that empty house, was her sister in pain-- laying on the steps towards that house, being held by a scared Shinji. 'Why?' She said, trying her best not to cry, "Why does everything in life has to be so bad? I just want to be with my sister... that's all I have...'

The young girl sunk in her seat. On the main monitor, she saw Shinji-- he had been crying. Crying over Mayumi, no doubt.

Everyone in the command center was tense, and she too was tense, the size of the monster that appeared over the city was too ugly for words. Aiko cringed at the image, but did not look away. Every time she closed her eyes, Mayumi was there; dieing.

--

Shinji couldn't take it anymore. Night was coming and the angel hadn't budge an inch!

"Shinji, it has been long enough. Fire from your vantage point!" Misato yelled.

Finally, the Evangelion twisted from it's crouched position and leaned it's head forward; the rifle swung from it's arms and was directed at the angel in the sky. With an explosive bang, the rounds flew from the rifle and crashed into the buildings around the angel. "Shit!" Shinji pivoted from his spot and moved away from the building that was tore apart by the objects that flew from the angel's body. Shinji looked at the utterly destroyed building and saw that the aubergine spikes from the angel's body had pierced the reinforced steel of it's armor. "Misato! It's shooting out parts of it's body!"

Analyzing the information in her mind, Misato came up the with only logical response. "Evasion actions!"

Both Evangelions ran in different directions as the spikes from the angel's body were flung by an unseen force, making lines of destruction in the Evangelion's wake. Around the buildings the buildings that were struck, a damask miasma formed. Not knowing whether it was poisonous or not, Misato ordered for all ventilation paths to be diverted from the upper part of Tokyo-3 to the back-up ventilators inside of the Geofront.

Rei's melted armor was slowing her down but, somehow, it still managed to outrun the fast paced pikes that were following her every movement. That did not mean that she was okay. Rei struggled to keep the Evangelion on a direct path, the leg armor was compressing against each other, and she knew she could not out-run the endless assault.

The debris that followed Shinji was another story. The purple Evangelion ran seamlessly through the streets of Tokyo-3, avoiding all of the angel's assaults. "Grr... I'm getting nowhere!" Shinji's eyes tightened in anger; he had to act quickly! Running away was not going to defeat the angel. Shinji changed his path that lead around the three, now damaged, buildings that surround the angel and ran directly towards it. The spikes flew over his Evangelion's head as he willed it to increased it's already impressive pace. With a savage roar, Shinji clutched the controls and opened fire on the angel.

She couldn't continue; there was no way she could. The orange-yellow armor of Unit-00 turned into a deep titian. The miasma was covering the entire city-- including her Unit-00. Suddenly, the assault ended on the titian Evangelion. The spikes stopped their decent on her as the damask miasma covered her Evangelion completely. "What is-- AAHHH!"

Shinji ceased his fire and turned to the vid-screen that allowed him to see Rei, "Ayanami!" The grayish-pink mist was filling the inside of Unit-00's entry plug-- Rei was in danger! With very little reluctantace, Shinji willed the Eva to jump from the street that led towards his enemy and jumped onto the buildings that overlooked Rei's location. The purple Evangelion ran across the buildings that were soon destroyed by the angel; then he saw the already defeated Unit-00. His looked to the left, at the screen that showed Rei's entry plug, and saw Rei chocking inside of the entry plug. "Ayanami!" With a ferocious snarl, the Evangelion leapt an unfathomable distance and landed in a crouched position, near Ayanami's Eva.

--

Inside of the commander center, Aiko had woken from her depressed state as she heard a roar that resonated inside of the building. "W-What was that!"

"Captain! The frontal jaw restraints have been ripped off!" reported Maya.

"Is it going berserk!" Misato asked frantically.

"No, ma'am! It's all Shinji's doing!"

"Shinji!" Misato looked on as the purple Evangelion flew over the city at an amazing speed. "What's he doing!"

Aiko looked on as Shinji's monitor popped up on the visual field, he was tired, broken, yet there was unrepressed anger in his eyes-- and it frightened her. "S-Shinji..?"

--

The purple Evangelion landed in a crouched position, it's free arm assisted him in it's landing; but soon leapt forward and grabbed Unit-00, keeping its momentum. Despite it's size, Unit-00 was carried off by the purple beast. Hop scotching over on top of the shattered buildings, Shinji struggled to stay conscious-- the miasma that clouded over the city began to take it's toll on him. As he felt consciousness slipping away from him, his eyes opened violently.

The clouds of damask left and the stream of spikes stopped pursuing the battle-worn Evangelions. "What's going on?" He honestly didn't want an answer to this question. He got one, whether he wanted it or not.

The purple Evangelion let go off the downed Unit-00 and opened up its communications. "Ayanami! Are you alright!"

All he got was static. "Ayanami!"

He gasped as he felt an intense pressure on his neck, "R-Rei..?" The fingers of Unit-00 encircled around Unit-01's neck, eventually smashing it into the side of an escape route. "R-Rei..? What a-are you do-doing!" He felt the life being drained from his weary form. Before Misato could tell Maya to cut the nerve connections; before his father ordered him to fight back; even before he felt a slight ting of happiness at having his worries soothed by the raven silk of death, he heard a sadden scream. "A-Aiko..?"

A red tinged darkness filled his vision. Red not unlike Ayanami's eyes.

--

Rei clutched at her controls-- but her Eva did not respond. All around her was the chocking, nauseating soot of the miasma, and she could not keep her eyes open for too long without a horrible stinging sensation appearing in the back of her head. Red... that's all she could see it that torture chamber-- the color that she begun to dislike. "Why? Why is it rejecting me?"

No answer. "Why am I hurting Ikari?"

No answer. "This feeling..." She drew her legs closer to herself. "I dislike this feeling."

Silence. "Stop this, Comma--" She stopped as Shinji's words echoed in her mind and escaped her lips. He would not help.

"Stop this feeling... Ikari." She choked out.

--

Evangelion Unit-01 slumped against the shattered building; it's once omnipotent white eyes fading into the black of it's failing armor. With an echoing crash, the purple gladiator fell on it's back, it's empty eyes staring as the last of the orange in the sky made way for the night. The angel stayed between the three buildings and seemed to mock Shinji with it's very existence.

Unit-00 stood over it's victim in silence.

Inside of the Commander Center, everything was in totally chaos.

"What the hell is going on!" Misato yelled at no one in particular. "Why did Rei attack Shinji?"

It was Motoko that had enough sense left to say anything. "We can't make sure that she's even in control! All connections to NERV have been cut off! She's completely isolated!"

The same booming voice came from above their heads. "Sever the umbilical cable. Unit-00 is not to be left to it's own will."

'It's own will..?' Misato was not sure of what the Commander meant by that, but she carried out her orders nevertheless. "Cut off the power supply and make pilot retrieval for Units 00 and 01 top priority!" She grit her teeth as their defeat was made clear. 'Damn... it's almost as if the angel wanted to embarrass the hell out of us...'

Aiko sat in her seat with tears building at the corners of her eyes. Mayumi and now Shinji may be dead-- it's too cruel a fate, too cruel a life to lose both her sister and her friend under these circumstances. The defeated form of Unit-01 was too much for her small heart to bear; she passed out.

Misato looked behind her and saw that Mayumi's sister had fallen from her chair. She rushed over and picked up her limp form. 'Damn... all of these children... why are they being forced through all of this!' With Aiko in her arms, Misato kneeled down and shouted her orders from where she was. "Was is the status on Unit-01 and pilot recovery progress?"

Aoba did not look away from his console. "Recovery teams cannot proceed! Trace amounts of the unidentified miasma may still be in the air!"

Biting her lip, Misato clutched the fallen girl closer to her. 'We've been hung out to dry.'

--

_"Where am I?"_

_Shinji was sitting down against a wall, somewhere where he could faintly recognize. Everything was hazy, but he could still make out a few things: he was bleeding from his nose. Fully opening his eyes, Shinji saw the faint glint of light over something green. It was a tree. The light behind sunken tree cast itself over Shinji's face; it's presence on his skin did not warm him in the least._

_"I remember this..."  
_

_He was in the back of the school, the very first place he had met Mayumi. He cast his weary gaze upon the base of the sunken tree, where he saw the stagnant water was no more; in it's place, was a liquid as red as Rei's eyes. It seemed dark and ominous, far too hazy to see the bottom of the concave, and far too bright to exist in this hazy world of memory._

_"What is this..?" Shinji got up from his slump and walked over to the otherworldly fluid. He knelt down and placed a finger inside it's cold and shallow depths. He shivered and retrieved his finger from the fluid. "Just what is this?"_

_The tree that he was under changed quickly. It's mercurial transformation passed across his navy blue eyes; it's leaves turned into a rusted brown and quickly fell from it's branches. Shinji stepped away from the dying tree and gawked at the sudden change._

_"What the hell is going on!"_

_"Ikari."_

_Shinji looked around but found nothing but the empty school and dead tree. "Ayanami? Where are you? Ayanami!"_

_"Help me."_

_Once again, he frantically searched around, but found no one. _

_"How am I suppose to help you if you don't tell me where you are!"_

_Shinji turned around to find Ayanami with long black hair. "I'm right here, Ikari."_

_His eyes went wide with shock. He step towards what he thought was Ayanami and ran his fingers through her sable hair, shivering at the familiar feeling. "A-A-Ayan-nami.. w-what is this!" Hearing no reply, he backed away. "R-Rei..?"_

_"Will you help me now, Ikari?"_

--

The city was awoken from the crystal silence by an angered and angst filled cry. No one heard his screams however; they heard the war cry from a barely restrained beast. The Evangelion rose from the debris and wreckage, and bellowed out once again as it turned around to face the angel which has caused such pain in it's masters heart.

Barely conscious, Shinji clutched his controls with dizzying force and willed his Eva towards the new bane of his life. "You... damn... angel..." He huffed out as his anger fueled what was left of his soul's shell. "I'll tear you apart!"

The Evangelion ran forward down the most direct route towards the floating angel; it's arms were outspread and it's hands into the shape of claws. With the remaining spikes on it's body, the angel attack the enraged Evangelion; it never struck it's target. The Evangelion was too fast, and it's pilot, far too determined in seeing it's innards splattered across the pavement. Nothing more than a purple blur, the Evangelion placed it's right foot forward and bent it downward, using it as a spring, and savagely leapt forward and used it's clawed hands to climb one of the three buildings that guarded the angel. Noticing this, the angel's appendages started to move and extend their misshapen fingers.

On the other side of the city, Evangelion Unit-00 stirred from it's sleep; It's single optical eye shone in the moonlight. The Evangelion ran towards the battlefield, rifle in hand. While not as fast as Unit-01, it had the advantage of having an available weapon. Raising it's melted hands, it opened fire on the ascending purple machine.

Unit-01 let out a low growl as the building around it started to crumble; the rounds only bounced harmlessly off it's A.T. Field.

Misato stared at the main monitor in fear as they lost control of Unit-00; and Unit-01, while Shinji was confirmed conscious, seemed to move on it's own accord. Aiko stirred in her arms and, hoping everything was just a bad dream, she looked up at the ensuing battle. It had to be a bad dream! "Mayumi... where is Mayumi!"

Inside of Unit-01, Shinji must have heard Mayumi's name being called out. With more tinder to light the hatred fueled blaze, Shinji took a more steady hold of the controls and willed his Eva forward, to the top of the tower. The Evangelion stood atop the cracked building and looked down at the rotating segments of the angel's body. Shinji grinned wickedly and his Eva leapt the short distance; it's feet directly aimed at the very top of the angel's body.

With a sickening crack, the Evangelion landed atop of the angel and clawed into the flesh-like metal of the angel's outer body. Pieces of the angel's segments rained down onto the streets beneath them. In a matter of seconds, the angel's segments stopped rotating, its paths of movement blocked by masses of it's own flesh, and broke off of the angel's body. The scene was utterly gruesome-- and Shinji enjoyed taking out his revenge against the oval orb that took him from his friend's side and hurt Ayanami. Once he was practically in the center of the angel, he realized he was being shot at, by Ayanami!

Raising it's arms, the Evangelion raised it's A.T. Field. Shinji opened his connection with Rei and shouted for her, "Ayanami! What are you doing!" All Shinji could hear on the other side was a faint "Help me, Ikari." Figuring that she could not possibly be in control, Shinji looked at Misato's window and was shocked to find out she was ordering him to do something for quite some time.

"-- rescue her! She's not in control!"

He hesitated. To leave the angel might mean losing his chance of victory. Leaving Rei in the Evangelion might end up hurting her-- or worse. Shaking his head from the haze of revenge, he decided her life was far too important to even risk losing. But there was a problem-- she was not in control, so the Eva would try and take him down.

With no time for second guessing, Unit-01 leapt off the angel's remaining body and brought it's feet together as it neared the ground. The wind swept past the Evangelions as Unit-01 landed directly in front of it's brethren. Unit-00 raised it's arms in defense; but that is what Shinji wanted to happen, the debris and the cloud of smoke from the landing covered Unit-01's actions. Seeing it's opening, Unit-01 grabbed the back of Unit-00's neck and brought it's head down to the concrete streets. Deja vu hit Shinji as he tore the back of Unit-00's neck and seeing the entry plug shoot out of it. It was different this time-- the Evangelion kept moving.

A grayish-pink mist shot of the inside of Unit-00, but that little to deter Shinji from his task. With a swift move, the Eva took hold of the entry plug and carefully lifted it out of the rogue Eva. A titian hand shot out and attempted to grab hold of the entry plug. Shinji violently forced his Eva to jam it's knee into the niggling hand. Not knowing what else to do, and seeing no nearby escape routes, Shinji locked in his commands and ejected the entry plug.

Shinji ran along the arm of Eva Unit-01 and reached the entry plug. This time however, he did not have to force open the hatch that led to it's prisoner. The hatch opened and let out a noxious red-ish gas; and Rei stepped out from the miasma. "Ayanami! C'mon, we have to get inside of my Eva! Can you walk?" She could not talk, every time she did, she would only cough. Seeing no other option, Shinji draped her arm over his neck and shoulder and led her towards their plug.

Shinji heaved Ayanami's light form into his entry plug. He was near his limit-- but he couldn't stop, not now that Ayanami's life was in immediate danger. His heart heavy, Shinji climbed inside as the Evangelion under his Unit-01 started to buckle forward. Inside, he floated over to the Throne of the Soul and took his rightful place. "Ayanami. Hold on." His words were uncertain. "I-I'll help you too..."

For what would hopefully be the last time in a long time, Shinji took his controls and set off to finish off the angel. Too weak to put up too much of a fight, the titian Evangelion grabbed Unit-01's wrist and managed to throw it off balance. It's twisted armor gleamed in the moon as it rose from it's stupor and brought it's foot down on the purple Evangelion's head.

The head armor cracked and all, if any, communications between him and headquarters was lost. Shinji held his head in agony. 'No! I can't lose... if I do, everyone will be killed!' Despite his desperate call for some sort of assistance, all he received was more pain on his temples. It was then that Shinji's cries awoke the other pilot. Her eyes shot open when she saw Shinji leaning against the Throne of the Soul-- his hands no longer on the controls, but simply clutching his head.

'He cannot continue...' Rei got up and lifted the part of the throne that kept Shinji in place. She sat down in-between Shinji and the controls for Unit-01. She would not be able to be protected by the throne, but she was the only one that could fight. Placing her hands on the controls, she felt the machine resist her. 'It is rejecting me?' She kept her hold and did her best to force the machine to follow her will. 'I have to fight. It is all I have.' Her thoughts were as monotonous as her voice. The Eva stayed silent as the second to last layer of armor chipped away. "I... I have to protect Ikari, as he has protected me.' With more bitter determination in her own voice, the Evangelion placed its hands on the foot that was crushing its skull in.

The purple Evangelion roared to life and pushed it's prototype countertype away from it. Unit-00 rushed forward and brought it's fist down onto the streets below it's feet. Sidestepping the oncoming blow, Unit-01 counterattacked and connected it's fist to the lower abdomen of the other Eva. The purple unit looked up at the festering angel. "You will not win." She stated with a needle's edge on her voice. Shinji's Eva ran towards the near dead angel-- but was halted when the other Eva tackled it down.

Inside of the entry plug, Rei' shifted and struggled to stay on the throne. Without the restraint that held a pilot in position, and with Shinji taking up most of the space, she easily lost her balance. "Ah... ah... ahh..." Her ragged breathing was the telltale sign of her pain.

Both Evangelions tumbled to the streets beneath them. With all hope seemingly lost, Rei shattered all thoughts of defeat as the purple Eva raised it's feet and placed it front it's chest. Rolling back from the momentum of the tackle, Unit-01 catapulted Unit-00, and watched as the airborne Eva flew across several buildings-- landing on the building she had hoped it would. Unit-00 crashed through foundation of the building that it had been firing at. An echoing cracking sound was heared throughout the city; the building was toppling over onto the angel.

Apparently, the rogue Eva did not deter from it's assault; it rose from the falling building and ran towards it's enemy in a blind rage. The frontal jaw restraints snapped open; the damask miasma seeped out of it's open mouth. Rei's eyes went wide. "The angel has taken Unit-00!" The shoulder of Unit-01 opened and it's broken hand retrieved the progressive knife. "You will not." With her ambiguous words dissipating into the LCL around her. Rei clutched Shinji's controls and attacked.

Both Evangelion units charged at one another, meeting directly in front of the soon to be destroyed angel.

Rei drove the knife directly into the neck of Unit-00-- causing it to drop to it's blood splattered and shattered knee. Seeing the aubergine blood flow down onto the streets, she withdrew the knife and looked at the angel that was covered by the falling building. With a fierce frown, Rei watched as the angel was covered by the wreckage and debris.

With no real resistance left in it's decaying body, the angel's appendages ceased their movement and hung loosely. The angel at last fell from the sky over Tokyo-3.

With no energy left in her, Rei followed Shinji's actions, and passed out.

--

The sun was slowly rising over the devastation that had occurred during the night. The smell of blood was thick in the air and the faint humming and murmurs of machines could be heard; working diligently to rid the city of the wreckage. Evangelion Unit-01 stood in the center of the destruction. It's cracked armor and blood stained hands glowed in the dawn light; yet despite it's damage, it's eyes shone intensely.

Inside of said Eva, Shinji awoke from his hazy slumber. He clutched at the pain in his chest-- a dull, pounding pain inside of his chest. "W... Where am I..?" Shinji couldn't open his eyes too much. His lids were heavy with fatigue and the dry layer of LCL that covered his body. Even so, Shinji struggled to open his eyes. He raised his arms feebly and tried to get a mental image of his surroundings. "Cold... slippery... and metal."

He gave up trying to see and laid his head back on the Throne of the Soul. He must have won. Somehow. Maybe the Evangelion went berserk again? Though he would never tell anyone, while he could not control it, Shinji was completely aware when his Eva went berserk on it's debut battle. He hated the pain he felt when he was inside, but even still, the Eva had a purpose. And it was that purpose that gave him one. His purpose. His purpose. He woke up with worry vivid in his face. "Mayumi! Where is she!"

Shinji looked down to see a mop of unruly blue hair, sticking to the pale skin of Rei Ayanami. Taking time to register the information in his head, Shinji reached down and ran his fingers through her hair; gently, yet carefully. He remembered bringing her into the entry plugs and then... nothing. "Ayanami... wake up..."

No reply.

"Ayanami... please..."

No reply.

Shinji's eyes went wide with fright. "No... Ayanami! You can't die..."

No reply.

"Rei..!" He pulled her closer to him and brought her head underneath his own. "Please, Rei! I-I should be the one that dies... not you..."

With no movement coming from her limp body, Shinji held onto her tighter. And he wept. He had lost everything. Rei was die. Mayumi was probably dead or dying. With an anguished cry, he held onto her and let his sorrows carry him off into sleep.

As tragic and heart-wrenching a scene that may have been, it was not the end of Rei Ayanami's, would-be, short life. An hour later, Rei woke up in the arms of Shinji Ikari. Her crimson eyes shook in what could only be confusion. What had happened?

She lifted her aching body off of him and saw the thin trails of tears that led from his eyes to where her head was laying. 'He was crying again... what am I suppose to be feeling now?' Her sudden movements must have woken her fellow pilot up-- Shinji's eyes opened, with sadness deeper than any man should ever have-- she also noticed a thin trail of blood that escaped from his mouth. "Ikari."

"A-Ayanami! Your alive!" He cautiously moved his hand across the soft skin of, who he hoped was, Rei. "It is you!.. Rei!" Not caring about his formalities or anything else at that moment, Shinji embraced her tightly. "I'm so glad... Rei..."

"Ikari. You are bleeding." Her words were lost when she felt the warmth of his body against her own.

Once again, confusion was vivid in her eyes. She did not know what to do in this situation. She had seen Dr. Ikagi do the same to the Commander-- taking him into an embrace --but, the Commander would never return the small gesture. He would forcefully return any passion, but he would never smile, cry, or show any true expression on his placid face.

There was a difference in Shinji's embrace that separated the two comparisons extensively, he was crying, and although it was too tight an embrace, but he was happy-- and so was she. Taking Shinji's advice, Rei smiled and returned the small gesture of friendship.

--

After some time, both Evangelion pilots ejected the entry plug and observed the destruction cause by both the angel and their own hands. Both watched as the workers tried desperately to salvage all that they could. It would be awhile before the rescue team could even attempt to get to the pilots.

"Ikari. Why is it that you held me?"

Now that the drama was over, Shinji let himself succumb to his usual nervousness and insecurities. "Well... I ugh... I was just... glad that you were... alive... Ayanami."

"You called me by my first name, did you not?"

"I... yeah, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have... but... wait, you heard me!"

"I believe so. I recall hearing you, but I could not respond due to my physical condition."

Shinji held onto the edge of the entry plug. "So... you heard me?"

"Yes."

There was nothing else to say. 'Why is it always so hard to talk to her?' Shinji looked out at the rising sun and frowned. The world and this city would go on another day-- but what of Mayumi? Communications were down, so he had no way of possibly knowing how his friend was doing. He remembered hearing Aiko call out his name... but maybe he was just imagining things. Hopefully she was doing well as she could.

Ayanami noticed his sudden frown and was immediately curious as to what had caused such a change in his mood. "What is saddening you, Ikari?"

The question was unexpected. It always was. "Huh..? Oh. I was just wondering how Mayumi was doing."

"Yamagishi, she is from our class." Looking down at the cracked battlefield beneath them, she continued. "Who is she to you?"

It was then that Shinji really questioned his relationship with Mayumi. 'Who is she to me..?' What kind of question was that, who is she to you? She was his friend. Even before that, she had helped him when he was injured. She even saved his life, even when she didn't have to do anything-- she could have just stayed in the back of that entry plug and wait for him to beat the monster. Mayumi, she was his only friend. But even still, who was he to her?

Shinji looked down. "Mayumi... she's my friend. I... I probably wouldn't be here, if it wasn't for her."

"I see." Rei held onto the entry plug's edge with a bit more force. "Then... who I am, Ikari?"

"W-What do you mean, Ayanami?"

"I have defeated my own Evangelion in combat." She looked down at the few buildings remaining. "It will be repaired-- but what if I did not have an Evangelion to pilot? Who would I be then?"

He couldn't turn away from her crimson stare, not when her voice was lined with desperation. Despite her calm demeanor and unwavering eyes, he could feel the fear in her.

Shinji was never good with words-- in fact, the only time he remembered saying anything remotely philosophical or helpful were his words to Ayanami, after the fight with the 'flying diamond.' He was hoping for something at least half as helpful. "Ayanami... I honestly don't know how to answer that; I haven't even found my own answer..."

It was Rei's subtle way of showing disappointment-- she looked forward; somewhere beyond, where even her eyes must not be able to reach-- it was that subtle movement that made him continue. "But, Ayanami, I doubt that there are many people that can answer that question." His weary and serious eyes focused on Rei's crimson red. "But it's like I said, if we go together, we might one day find something." Rei returned his gaze; surprisingly enough, he did not look away. "Ayanami... let's try to be friends, okay?" Shinji offered his hand. "I don't know what you consider me as... but if we fight together, as friends, we might make it to find out who we are."

Hesitantly at first, Rei took his hand. "Friends... then we are on a first name basis?"

"Of course we are."

The helicopters in the air were fast approaching the two children, their noise disturbing the tranquil scene between the two pilots. Misato's voice reached their ears-- the megaphone wasn't needed.

Rei looked at Shinji's twitching arm-- she remembered that he had burned it, saving her. "Does it still hurt?"

He shook his head and looked at the helicopters coming closer. The light reflected on his clearly enervated body-- the wrinkles underneath those once deep navy blue irises were enough to tell anyone of his ordeals. "It doesn't matter, Rei." Shinji looked back towards his new friend. "Will you need help? Getting onto the helicopter that is."

She was physically and mentally exhausted, but she could still go on. 'I can do it myself-- and yet...'

"That would be... very appreciated, Shinji."

--

Shinji stood in the changing room of NERV Headquarters, letting the water wash away the dried LCL that stuck to his itching skin., and wondered about the fate of Mayumi. He tried his best not to worry, since all it made him was to do was cry, but he could not help himself. He stopped the flowing waters and languidly dried himself. 'Misato said, that she would make it, but Ritsuko had been quiet about the details... at least she's alive.' He changed into his school uniform and walked out of the changing room.

Outside, Aiko and a member of NERV security stood waiting for the victorious pilot. Shinji looked at both of them before finally resting his gaze on the man from NERV. "What's going on?"

"By order of Captain Katsuragi, we have placed temporary custody of Yamagishi, Aiko to you."

Shinji looked at Aiko; he was far too spent to look surprise, but he came close to it. "Why me?"

The NERV agent let go of Aiko arm and placed his dark sunglasses on. "She is currently in the middle of ridding the city of the angel's corpse."

Aiko walked over to Shinji, but only stared at his shoes. He raised his head and further questioned the strange occurrence. "What about Aiko's mother?"

The agent started walking away. "She is currently part of the effort to reconstruct the damaged buildings. Don't worry, she has been informed of her daughters current guardian."

The man left without another word-- he had completed his task. Shinji looked down at Aiko form and kneeled down on one knee; she was rather short, even for a girl her age, after all. She had an eternally unhappy expression on her, and that made Shinji all the more sad. He held out his gloved hand and tried his best to smile. "Let's go, Aiko. We should go find out how Mayumi is." He wasn't expecting her to give him such a forlorn smile.

"Shinji... I was so scared!" She threw herself at him and hugged him fiercely. Her shivering small frame quivered in his arms-- and all Shinji could do was pat her back softly. 'Why does this always happen to me?' He was so inexperienced in giving other people comfort, it seemed a bittersweet gift every time someone showed or he had to give affection. With Aiko, it was different. She was still young, and therefore, very emotional fragile. How could he not give the her the small comfort she desired? With his battle-worn arms, he hugged her tenderly.

After a few minutes, Aiko raised her head from his shoulder and looked up at him. "I saw you fight, Shinji... it can't believe that was you..." With slightly renewed emotional vigor, Aiko did her best not to seem so pessimistic. "You were good... weren't you scared?"

Shinji held in his breath for a few seconds before answering. "Yeah, I was... but Rei and me, we helped each other out." He placed his hand on top of her lustrous raven hair. "Don't worry though, I'm fine." His reassuring smile made Aiko feel a little better about the horrors that had occurred in Tokyo-3.

"Okay..." Aiko let go of Shinji and he looked down at her. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Get up! I'm not that short, you know!" She grinned as he obeyed and smiled stupidly at her. "Now let's go find your girlfriend."

Not in the mood to argue, he gave up with a sigh and walked ahead. Shinji led Aiko around NERV HQ for the better part of an hour; asking for the whereabouts of the missing sister.

Eventually, they found Rei, now in her school uniform, standing in the Eva cages, looking at Evangelion Unit-01. It was strange. Though she did not look it, Shinji had become better at picking up the aura that seemed to emit from her-- as if in her stead, it would tell him what she felt. Shinji walked up to her and touched her shoulder; she woke from her trance. "Hey, Rei. Are you feeling any better?"

She turned to face him. "Yes, I am." Her direct and abrupt answer seemed to annoy the short girl behind Shinji.

"Well, I was wondering if you knew where... Mayumi was."

"I don't know where she currently is." Seeing his disappointed look, she felt the strangest sensation. "I... I apologize."

"Don't worry about. I'm sure we'll find her eventually--" Shinji looked behind Rei and saw the same familiar lab coat of Ritsuko Akagi. He ran towards the preoccupied scientist. "Dr. Akagi! Where's Mayumi!"

Ritsuko looked at the pilot at first with mild shock-- he had interrupted her train of thoughts, after all. His question sunk into her mind and caused her to frown deeply. The small mole, almost like a tear, underneath her left eye looked like just like that-- a tear, and it seemed to reflect the light of the Eva cages. She raised the notepad that she was carrying and flipped through it's pages; finding the right page, she looked down at Shinji. "She'll be find, but she needs to stay under NERV medical attention." The words were convincing to Shinji, but they felt empty to her.

"Why? What's wrong!" The panic in his voice only faded slightly.

"I can't tell give the details right now, Shinji." She nudged her head towards a direction behind the pilot. He turned his head towards the direction of Aiko, who was listening intently and fearfully awaiting the bad news. Understanding, Shinji looked back to Dr. Akagi.

"So... she'll be fine, right?" He pleaded.

'Her safety isn't guaranteed,' she thought sadly. Ritsuko hated it when she had to lie to the child that save their lives so many times.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Shinji."

--

Mayumi lifted her hand to the cold steel that confined her to her glass prison. Everything around her nude form was cold and dark, even the glowing letters: T, C, G, and R did not help her see across the darkness. How long had she been inside the tube? Why was she breathing in that yellow-orange fluid, once again? It had been at least a few hours-- lying awake in the semi transparent waters. When she had awoken, she was scared out her mind. Now there was only the sadness of being alone.

The last thing she remembered, was looking up at the dusk skies, and Shinji's deep blue eyes.

held herself and waited for the only person she knew would try and save her.

"Where are you, Shinji..?"

A man with orange tinged glasses walked in from the endless abyss of black. "Pilot Ikari will not see you for some time. As a matter of fact," The man took off his glasses. "I believe you will help me bring that child to his knees, when he steps a bit too far beyond the boundaries." He placed his hand on the cold glass of Mayumi's prison. "Yes, I will make you his demise, Ms. Yamagishi-- or should I say, Angel."

--

To be continued.

--

Author's Notes: Edited This has been slightly edited so it can look and be more... well... readable and understandable. Not too much, though.

Wow, a cliffhanger, the mystery!

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Happy Shinji couldn't last forever, could he? Anyway, there you have it-- my first attempt at making a completely original choreographed Evangelion battle. The others ones, I had something to go by, you know? If it helps, I had the soundtrack of God of War playing in my head when I thought it up, though the real fighting is just to come.. if your going to review, please tell me if you liked it. Bleh.

As for why I started making this story in the first place.. well I was bored. The thought came into my head will I was looking through some of my old Evangelion pictures-- I came across Mayumi's picture. And I had just finished reading something off of so I though up of some questions: like, "What would she have done for Shinji, if she had.." and "Shinji needs some damn good in his life, what if he she had do this and that to him during the course of the anime," and so forth. I was only brainstorming; I wasn't planning on actually making a story. Eventually, the thought stayed in my head. It took a number of things to get my fingers on the damn keyboard, though. One, I was watching Fullmetal Alchemist on my DVD thing on my PC, and Zach Galifinakis was on Comedy Central.. I don't know how, but the thoughts suddenly mixed together-- nothing! Then I heard some Frank Sinatra from out of nowhere, that Fly Me to the Moon song he made.. then Evangelion popped into my head. I don't know why.. but then I stopped Fullmetal, and I turned on Winamp to play that song I kept listening to for some reason.. I think it was called Undo, (from Fullmetal, I think.) Then the idea of Evangelion's fighting to that made me all happy like-- but I haven't seen anything that fast paced go on in Eva fighting (except the for Unit-01's first fight).

Then Mayumi popped into my head for some reason or another.. don't ask me why, I don't know. So I cut off the Fullmetal and started listening to some Wu-Tang Clan and playing God of War (cause I'm badass like that, I guess.) -- then bam! Fanfic ideas start pouring into my head. Then I remembered that the U.S. Constitution had a lot of stuff taken from the Iroquois Constitution (cause those silly white people don't know how to get along) and I was like, Shinji's got to be more like Kaji! I have no idea why that memory brought up that fanfic idea, but it did. Then I remembered I had that book from the 2nd Impressions game; so I skimmed through it, and found the picture of that large angel thing. I had to make a fic then!

And that's the humble, albeit weird beginnings to my story. And as always: the grammar-- forgive me on that. I'll work on it later.

Oh and my birthday is on the 16th of November, so yeah.

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy.

Thank you for all the reviews. They are all very appreciated.

This is the sixth chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

On the third night, Shinji laid on his bed, staring at the now familiar ceiling over him, and worried over the life of his best friend. It had been three days since he was told that she would be okay; it had been three days filled with him bothering Dr. Akagi every hours or so, checking to see when he would be able to see her. The good doctor was probably tired of him asking so often, but even if she was, she hid it well. Every time he would ask, she would avoid his eyes and mumble on about there being complications. That just made him feel bad. He had cried himself to sleep the first night; not the usual layer of moisture over his eyes, but tears that continued to fall from the navy blue depths. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had done something like that-- aside from when he had finally accepted the loss of his mother.

'Mayumi... at least I know your alive...'

He shifted his weight to his left side and carefully lifted his num arm from underneath the head that laid on his stomach. Shinji looked down to see Aiko sleeping soundly, her legs dangling off the edge of his bed, and for once in some time, a small smile graced her lips. He ran his healed, gloveless hands through her long raven hair and sighed sadly at the familiar feeling. Somehow this small girl had found her way into the young Ikari's heart-- and it was not simply due to who she was related to.

She shifted her entire frail body against his own and placed her head on his chest-- with a bit too much force. Shinji coughed at the unexpected pressure, but could not help but smirk at her restless movements. His thoughts wandered, as he looked at the innocent face of Aiko, back to the first day he had met the older Yamagishi.

_"You see... I have a younger sister, her name is Aiko."_

Those strangely fond memories.

_"I know this sounds absurd... I barely met you and all, but... what you did in the robot..."_

He wondered why he took her words so deeply into his shelled heart.

_"Please, Shinji, keep her safe! Protect her..."_

She loved her sister so deeply... he couldn't possibly understand.

He frowned and shook the thoughts away; holding the young girl in his arms, protecting her against something he could only see. 'I kept my promise.. she's safe-- and I'll keep her safe'. Shinji looked at her sleeping form and held tighter as the thoughts about Mayumi would not end. Knowing that he would once again weep, he made to her a mental plea. 'Please don't hear me, Aiko... I have to be strong... but I can't, not tonight.'

And with Aiko in his arms, he wept that night.

--

Shinji awoke from his tiresome sleep by a small ray of light that intruded on his right eye. He rubbed his eyes and nose, they were hurting for some reason, and tried to yawn, but couldn't. Something was in his mouth; he opened his eyes completely and found that Aiko had once again shifted in her sleep. Shinji groggily took Aiko's foot out of his mouth and rubbed at the sore feelings on his face. 'Oww... she kicked me in her sleep!' Carefully, he lifted her legs off of him and made his way to the bathroom, mumbling something about brushing his teeth.

Aiko awoke to the sounds of the shower turning off. She knew that she moved around a lot when she slept, hopefully Shinji didn't take too much notice of that, but she couldn't say for sure that she did this time. With a loud yawn, the short girl got up and walked to Shinji's closet.

Misato had called a day earlier, telling Shinji to pick up Aiko's stuff from her house-- city repair would take quite some time. Not only that, but the remains of, what Shinji called, the 'flying diamond' angel had not been completely removed, either. Aiko sighed at that-- it meant that her mother would be busy at work again.

The shower turned off.

She listlessly smoothed the knots out of her hair for a few minutes. Her ears twitched and her nose wrinkled as the sounds and smells of a hot meal being prepared soon reached her. Mayumi, though she loved her to death, could not cook at all. But what Shinji was making-- Aiko was too anxious to simply wait. She walked towards the door, but stopped as she felt something wet on her foot. Looking down, she frowned and walked to the bathroom, mumbling something about washing her feet.

Shinji, now in his school uniform, made breakfast for himself and Aiko. He could have simply placed one of the many instant foods Misato bought and placed it in the microwave, but he felt that Aiko needed a nice meal-- and for some reason, cooking always kept the troubles of life out of his mind. Shinji looked at the clock and saw that he had woken up a bit earlier than he needed to; over an hour left before school began. The sound of the shower running reminded him that it would be Aiko's first day at her new school.

He was convinced that the school was indestructible. With every angel battle that had occurred, more of the city was lost-- but the school stood. He sighed and served the food he was preparing on two plates and started working on their lunches.

Aiko stepped out of the bathroom with her new uniform on. It was, of course, the same as all of the uniforms at school, except Aiko had taken the liberty of using her sister's light yellow vest. It wasn't particularly her taste, but she needed something to tease her sister about, when she came back from the NERV medical branch, of course. Yes, there was no doubt in Aiko's mind anymore, her sister would come back and everything would be normal again. They would fight and bicker over meaningless things, Mayumi would win, but she would mention Shinji's name and keep her older sister in check. The thought made her smile.

"Shinji! Where's my shoes?" Her voice was too Misato-like for Shinji's taste.

"Ugh... I think I put them under the bed." He took a sip of his tea as she came out of his room with a wide grin on her face. "Mayumi's vest..?"

"Yup. I look better in it than she does, anyway." She pouted. "When she comes back, I'm gonna tell her it's mine... you think it looks better on me, don't you?"

Shinji gulped. He knew whatever answer came out of his mouth, he would regret. "Umm... I-It looks nice..."

Aiko would have teased him about it, but she remembered what she had heard last night. He was really putting up a good act, but keeping all those emotions bottled up inside could not be good for him. She walked over to the table and took her seat. Looking at the steam rising from the rice and miso soup made her stomach growl anxiously. "Hehe... I guess the food is good." Both ate the contents of their plates in silence. The silence was not long lasting, however; Aiko looked at the faint marks on Shinji's face. Putting together the way she woke up, her wet foot, and the marks on his face, Aiko came to her conclusion.

"Sorry about that, I sleep weird." She smiled nervously.

"It's okay... the redness will go away soon." With the silence building once again, Shinji voiced his question. "Aiko... why did you want to sleep in the same room? I could have slept on the couch... it might have been more comfortable for you if I had..."

Aiko smiled with embarrassment. "Well... I sometimes slept with Mayumi when I couldn't sleep. You know, when you I was littler... I guess I just needed to have someone there with me." Her smile faded, but the embarrassment stayed.

"You don't have to feel bad about it! I was just wondering that's all. I mean, I guess I kinda needed the same thing, you know?"

'I know you did...' Her smile did not return for some time. Eventually, she knew that she knew how to raise both of their moods. Aiko's smile returned and she finished off the rest of her meal. "You know what, Shinji? I like that your my sister's boyfriend. Your not a jerk and your not a bad cook either."

"M-Mayumi isn'--"

"Stop." She raised her hand for emphasis. "I've heard it from both of you, but I know your both full of it." She pointed her finger with a wink in her eye. "Just know, that if you decide you like her in that way, she likes you back."

Shinji blushed furiously and sunk in his seat. 'Misato... now Aiko?'

--

Half of the school day had flown by. Shinji had led the younger Yamagishi to school and, because of her nervousness, had introduced her to the class. It was something he hadn't expected to do, especially since she was younger than him. She had failed to tell him that they would be in the same class due to her 'brainy-ness', as Aiko put, was pushed up to his grade. It was a good thing, though; he didn't want to leave her alone. He understood how Mayumi must feel about her sister, at least to a certain extent.

Aiko sat contently beside Shinji, enjoying the gentle breeze that swept over the green hill they sat on. Aiko didn't get to talk to anyone besides the class representative and two of Shinji's friends, who were very interesting in knowing where Mayumi was. The question was answered with as little detail as possible. That wasn't really what was bothering the little Yamagishi; she already knew that her sister would be fine, the real problem was that the other girls in class did not really talk to her. They though her as a little girl who thought too highly of herself. Aiko leaned her head on Shinji's shoulder and drew her knees close to her chest. It was the same as the last school.

Shinji noticed the sudden weight on his shoulder and looked to his right. "Something wrong?"

"No. It's okay." She picked at the grass underneath her shoes. "Just that... I didn't make any of my own friends. I guess I should have expected that..."

"Well... I'm here, and I'm sure Mayumi will be back soon."

"I-I know she will... it's just that I have a hard time making friends. Usually, I make friends through my sister. Not that she gets many of them either."

Shinji decided to play the role of a real guardian-- and her protector. He placed his arm around his charge and friend. "I'm sure you'll find some friends... I found you two, didn't I?"

Aiko shifted herself into the crook of his embrace and sighed softly. Her mischievous grin reappeared. "Well, from what my sister has told me, she's the one who found you, Mr. Ikari." She got the reaction she was hoping for.

"M-Mayumi told you about that?" He managed to stutter out.

"Yup." She relaxed her wisp form under his still aching arm and beamed serenely. "She tells me everything, especially about you. She told about how you saved her from that angel with the whip things. About how you saw how much you were struggling inside of the Eva and how--" She stopped as the more recent memories occurred; of Unit-01's savage victory. "... I didn't think you could do something like that. It seemed too violent to be you..." Shinji's back had a sudden cold chill. "But... I guess you had to do it; if you hadn't I bet you would have hated yourself for letting your future wife get hurt." She joked quietly.

"M-My future..? Stop teasing me." He nudged her gently and she giggled at his flushed face.

The rest of the lunch period was spent in idle chatter, until Rei Ayanami could be seen walking up towards their location. Both were surprised to see the blue haired Eva pilot during their free time, but Shinji did not mind. "Hey, Rei." He greeted as warmly as he could.

"Hello, Ik-- Shinji." She corrected herself. "I have received news from Captain Katsuragi. Yamagishi has shown improvement and is now in the NERV Medical building-- she is open for private visitation, which Captain Katsuragi has provided you clearance for."

Shinji could not believe what he was hearing; she was alive, and he would be allowed to see her. Getting up abruptly, he rose from his seat and grabbed Aiko's wrist. "C'mon! We have to go see her!" Aiko did not argue against his claim and got up as quickly as he did. Both ran towards the school entrance.

Rei stood on the hill, left behind. A faint feeling of what she could only identify as loneliness was all she had-- but she also felt something else. 'Betrayal..?' Before she could walk away, she felt something take hold of her wrist. Surprised, Rei faced the person who was holding her. "Shinji?"

"Let's go, Rei!"

Without an argument left in her, Rei was led away by the young pilot. The few traces of sadness that entered the previously unknown cracks in her heart were patched away by Shinji's hands.

--

Mayumi opened her sore eyes; her head was throbbing and her heart was aching, but no one was there to greet her from the long and tiring slumber. She could only move a slightly at first, but with a few movements from her arms, she was steadily able to fully move her limbs. This was only a small comfort to her. Even if she could move, it was only in the hospital bed where she could move. She let out a deep sigh and waited for anyone to visit her.

'What happened anyway..?' The question resonated in her head for what seemed like an eternity-- she couldn't remember one thing. Only seeing Shinji's worried expression, then nothing. She looked around the room: a white ceiling, her bed, and a window.

The large window let only a thin ray of light into the pale white room. It was so bare and lonely; and she hated to admit that she was all too used to it. After all, her house was no different. It's pale white walls reflected everything that stood in that house-- nothing. The only lively thing in that house was her and her sister's room. Her attention was now caught. "Aiko... where is she?"

Mayumi struggled to get up from her bed, pulling her head up slowly and placing her feet down on the cold tiled floor. She heaved her light form off the cushioned bed and walked over to the window. She opened the blinds and saw the bright lights of the noon sky-- but she was underground, under Tokyo-3. She had seen it once before, the city in battle formation, but at that time her attention was almost completely on the shy boy that had saved her life. Looking back on the technological marvel, she decided that paying most of her attention to Shinji was still the better decision.

She heard the sounds of people running down the hall, all towards her direction. With a sad expression on her face, she turned around and looked at the door hopefully. 'Aiko... Shinji... please be them...'

The door swung open and hit the wall with a small crack. Her russet eyes brightened from their former lackluster selves as she saw her shrimp of a sister running into her arms. She hugged her sister with a bone-crunching force, tears running down from her now life-filled eyes. "Aiko..." she whispered into her cherished sister's ears. "S-stop crying... you look like your nine when you d-do..."

Not even bothering to look up, she retorted, "Shut up, M-Mayumi, y-you look like your f-five..."

While the emotional exchange of relief occurred before his eyes, Shinji stood in the doorway, smiling forlornly, with tears sweetly and bitterly stinging at the corner of eyes. He wanted to rush over to his friend, to feel every curve of her existence, breathing before his very eyes, but he did not want to take Aiko's happiness away. He could not tear them apart, not over his petty needs.

Seeing the tears finally fall down his cheeks, Rei looked away from the two sisters and set her gaze on the tearful pilot. "Shinji, are you sadden? Or are you happy?" She frowned at her own inability to tell the difference.

Shinji looked at her and gave her an emotion-weary smirk. "Y-Yeah... I'm happy, Rei."

After some time, Mayumi met Shinji's stare. It seemed like an eternity in-between them, in that cold hospital room, but they were mere feet away from one another. After the few days they were apart, they had finally been reunited, but something was off; why did he simply stand there, so far far from away her? Finding her voice in the pit of her stomach, she tried to speak his name, but simply squeaked it out-- her tears were in her throat.

That was all he needed to hear. Shinji cautiously walked up to her, as if the slightest movement might make the phantom he has wished to see disappear, and stood in front of her, staring into her damp russet eyes. He didn't know what he could possibly say to her, this girl who has brought the will to fight for something other than his own survival, who has given him much more than she could possibly comprehend-- what could he say? "H-How are you feeling, Mayumi?" How stupid of him, he thought.

She swallowed the lump that had developed in her throat. "Not... not too bad." She wiped the tears away from her eyes. Once the salty liquid left her eyes, she saw that Shinji no longer had the gloves on. "I see your... better."

He shook his head. "Just a little."

She had to be a mirage; there was no way Mayumi, the girl who he had thought was lost in a matter of short and lonely days, could possible be standing there. Happiness was something he had barely began to experience, and yet, it stood mere inches away from him. But he could not bear to talk with a ghost.

How cruel, how cruel was it that this was a dream, he bitterly thought. After all he had been through, after all the pain he put himself through, he had to be tormented by the image of his dead friend. How cruel, how cruel. He clutched his fist tightly and closed his eyes, causing the salty tears to run down his face. How cruel, how cruel, he though; Her sister, hugging the apparition of her lost sibling, clutching her frail form as if her life depended on it. How cruel, how cruel, he mentally chanted. Now he could not bear to see her lissome form, standing before him with such expectant eyes, bright with the tears that did not exist. It could not be her-- for he would be exultant if it was.

Ceasing the self-delusional thoughts from his weary mind, Mayumi stepped forward, affectionately placing her arms around his neck and placing her aching head onto his shoulder, and let her tears run down his shirt. Her quiet whimpers against him did not go unnoticed for long; Shinji, snapping out of his own self-pitying, and putting aside his grief over who he was sure was fallen, returned her tender affection in gently desperation. He placed his arms around her waist, carefully, making sure she would not disappear before his eyes, and laid his head onto her slender shoulder.

Aiko had let go of her sister when she noticed Shinji standing nearby, obviously not knowing what to do or say, and immediately grinned at, what she knew would be, a very romantic, if not, touching scene. Aiko walked towards the doorway and stood next to the girl who had led them to Mayumi's room. She did not have an expression on her face, but Aiko could tell she was keeping something in-- 'Maybe she wants to cry too?' Aiko nudged at Rei's side, immediately catching her attention. "Thank you, for telling us about my sister... I know Shinji would thank you too, if he wasn't so busy, that is."

Rei simply nodded and watched as the two parted from their embrace and looked at the floor with flushed faces. 'Interesting.' She commented as the two pretended that the scene had happened days ago. 'They hide their feelings for each other, even after such a catharsis.' Shinji helped Mayumi back onto her bed and eventually took a chair from the corner of the room next to her and sat down. 'Very interesting.'

"You... you didn't need to help me, I could have done it by myself..." Mayumi tried to keep her shy smile inside, succeeding to a small degree.

"It's okay... I wanted to."

Aiko jumped onto the bed with her sister and sat down near her waist, placing her hand on her sister's stomach, and facing the young Ikari. "So how've you been, sis?"

Mayumi looked down at her bed sheets. "I... I'm not sure. I can't really remember... anything." She frowned as she tried to access her own memories and received nothing about the time she blacked out. She clutched her bed sheets and moved her legs under the itchy fabric. "What happened, while I wasn't... there..."

Shinji paused at her questioned and frowned. "An angel attack..."

Knowing not to push the question, Mayumi held up her palm. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me about it... but tell me." She turned her view from Shinji to that of her younger half. "Well, since your wearing my clothes, you must not have been at home-- since you don't ever bother to do the laundry." She chided.

Aiko smiled and swung her legs over the bed, hovering slightly above the ground. "Since you were gone, Misato," she smile grew wider," she lets me call her that; Misato told some NERV guy to take me to Shinji. She said she would have let me go with Mom, but she was busy with cleaning up the city after the Eva fight."

Mayumi sighed sadly, "Yeah, she's always busy..."

Either Aiko did not hear her sister's comment, or she had ignored it. "So I went home with Shinji, got some of my-- and your, stuff, and went over to Shinji's house."

Mayumi was surprised at Shinji's hospitality. 'He must have been worn out after a fight... and then to deal with Aiko for... how long?' "How long did you two stay together?"

Aiko smiled broadly, "Three days! The first day wasn't very fun, since we were all sad and stuff... but the second day went by a little better."

Mayumi looked at Shinji's blushing face as he rubbed at his cheek. She knew what had happened, but decided to test out her theory first. "So you two slept in the same bed? Didn't you?" Her mock-anger did fool Shinji.

"I, ummm... it wasn't like that..! Aiko said that she use to sleep with you when you were younger, and umm... --"

"So what if we did!" The little sister wrinkled her nose. "You angry that I spent the night with your boyfriend, before you even kissed him?"

Mayumi's head turned a bright red. Whether it was due to her sister's comment and accusation, or Shinji's panicked facial expression, was anyone's guess. "W-What do you mean, b-boyfriend! You little brat! You probably kicked his face in your sleep! I hate it when I wake up with your foot in my mouth!"

"Well, he was too tired from last night to complain about it!" she teased.

If it was possible, Mayumi's cheek rose another shade of red. "What the hell is that suppose to mean!"

Aiko stuck out her tongue and struggled to fight off her sister's attempt to smother her with the pillow in her hands. "It means whatever you want it to!"

Shinji sighed with a flushed face and lowered his head as the two sister's bickered and attempted to, playfully he hoped, kill each other. He rubbed the back of his head and gave a half-hearted smirk. The scene, despite it's appearance, was a touching moment between two loving sisters. He hoped.

Rei Ayanami, who had been watching intently, stood beside Shinji. She looked down at Shinji's expression as he watched the sisters fight. "Shinji."

"Yes, Rei?"

"Do you not care for those two?"

Shinji paused, but did not hesitant for long. "Yeah, I do."

"Then why are you allowing them to hurt each other?"

Aiko had gained the upper hand while Rei and Shinji conversed besides them. She had managed to take the pillow from Mayumi and was swatting away at her head, while Mayumi tried to bite at her ankles. Shinji covered his laughed and looked back at Ayanami's confused expression. "They're just happy to see each other, Rei."

Rei turned back towards the bickering and continued to try and understand why they were fighting, before finally taking Shinji's words for it. "Interesting."

--

Mayumi sat in the living room, her sister's head was on her lap, sleeping soundly and restlessly at the same time, her constant shifting only annoyed her slightly. She had gotten use to it, after all. The cold air from the open balcony sent a chill down her spine, but she could not get up without disturbing her sleeping sister, so she laid back and ran a hand down her sister's back.

The day had gone considerably fast, all things considering. Her lips pursed as she remembered how Shinji had insisted that she and sister stay at his apartment, at least until her side of the city was rebuilt enough to ensure their safety. It made her happy, knowing that the shy boy she had helped from a fleeting glance of pity had become so close to them. Despite her happiness, it still did seem strange-- the way she could open up to him and the way he opened up to her, it seemed too surreal, too perfect.

As if by some physic link, Shinji walked out of his room, rubbing his eyeballs from lack of sleep. "Mayumi..? What are you doing up so late? You should get some rest."

Something she must have been thinking must have just been proven right. "It's okay, I've slept long enough." She took her hand off of Aiko's back and took off her glasses and placed them on the arm of the couch. "Sit down."

Shinji did as was told and took a seat next to her. He felt like he had done something wrong, yet again. "Mayumi... I'm sorry about that whole thing... with Ritsuko--"

The sable-haired girl shook her head slowly. "It's okay. I know you were just worried. I know Dr. Akagi was a little light with the details, but maybe she just didn't want you to worry over me. The important thing is that we're both fine now." She lowered her gaze to the sleeping girl on her lap. "And of course, the pipsqueak here is fine, too... thank you." Shinji could have sworn he heard a mumble coming from Aiko-- but he shook the thought away.

Mayumi looked at the boy's face, the moonlight reflecting in his navy blue eyes, drawing her in with every fleeting glance. Shinji took notice of her occasional glances and grew nervous. Mayumi blushed slightly and tried to think of something as an excuse for her actions. 'Ugh... I got it!' Mayumi took her glasses and placed them one Shinji, a small grin creeping on her face. Shinji looked through the lenses and blinked in confusion.

Mayumi giggled at his befuddled and, in her opinion, cute facial expression-- but even that brief moment of light hearted affection ended.

There were many things on her mind. One being why she was even in the current situation she was in. Another being why she was even there, taking advantage of everything Shinji offered. It seemed greedy, even cruel, for Shinji to offer her so much, without her giving anything back. If they were friends, why did it feel like she was taking everything from him, why did it feel as if she was just another burden for Shinji carry on his already weighed down shoulders? It was as if she was the world, and Shinji, an all too willing Atlas.

"Shinji... why do you do these things?" Her facial expression turned serious in moments; she needed to hear the answers. "Why do you pilot the Eva? I've seen how much you suffer in it." Shinji could only look back; he knew he couldn't say the answers to questions he wasn't too sure of in the first place. "Why do you stay around me so much? I... I've caused nothing but trouble and worry to you..."

"I'm not sure how to answer that... I..." He thought hard, considering why he would ever put himself through so much. He had told himself, numerous times, that he did everything to protect the few people he cared about, but it was different now. Once someone asked him the question, it seemed as if he had to reevaluate himself. 'Why do I do this?' Memories flashed of how she was about to be crushed under the angel's tentacles; Memories flashed of how he couldn't bear seeing Mayumi in pain inside of his Eva, of how she but herself in danger for him, a complete stranger. There was only one answer in his mind. He did this for her. "I... did it because... I feel like I have to protect you."

"But why!" She felt her patience leave her. "Why for me! That's too much pressure for me to carry! You fight and hurt yourself, you nearly kill yourself for me! Someone who've you only met a maybe a week ago!" She kept her tears inside, but she let her voice carry. "What do you want in return? What can I possibly give you?" Her voice cracked and lowered into a whisper. "What can I possibly do to deserve all of that..."

It was like he was hearing himself voice his own questions. Days ago, he questioned why he had deserved the friendship of someone like her; to deserve such happiness. Now, he knew that she had the same concerns, the same insecurities that, he felt, made himself weak and wretched. What did he do to deserve anything?-- both asked themselves.

He lived an empty life before he arrived to Tokyo-3 and, when he came to the fortress city, he had no reason to turn back, look over his shoulder and say that he honestly wanted to go back. He had nothing back there-- he had something here. He had his three new friends at school; Touji, Kensuke, and Hikari. He would have fought for them, since he had little reason to go on for; he would have fought, even if he used them as a reason, an excuse, to not take his own life-- something he was far too afraid to even attempt. Then there was the others: Misato, Rei, Aiko, and, above all else, Mayumi. He didn't use them as an excuse. He fought for them, for their chance at happiness he knew he did not deserve. Even if it was an attempt to hide his own self-image of uselessness, it was better than letting them die.

With his mind made up, Shinji summoned his courage, and took Mayumi's quivering hand and steadied it with a firm grip. "B-Because.. I c-care about you... Mayumi."

The sable-haired girl eyes opened wide in surprise, shining over in the thin film of tears that coated her irises, and lowered her head as his statement rushed into her head. It wasn't something new to her-- but to hear it being said by him! The thought made her heart race and caused her face to flush under his anxious, yet honest, face. No, there was no lie in his sincere words.

It excited and scared her, Shinji's statement. She fought against her own emotions for the young pilot since their visit to the outlook; and now, those inner battles were reduced to rubble under his four words, 'I care about you'. With no knowledge of how to deal with her predicament, Mayumi could only stare into his wavering, deep blue eyes, and return the words as best she could. It was not that she did not feel the same way, but her words sounded empty in her own mind. She did not know how say or show how she truly felt for the young pilot. 'I care for you' did not voice it loud enough, it sounded too... small.

In the end, she knew that those three words on the tip of her lips would sound far too desperate, far too early. "Shinji... I care for you too..." Temporarily forgetting that her sister was on her lap, Mayumi leaned forward, closing her eyes as she found the right way to express her repressed feelings.

Shinji stared at her soft expecting lips, and trembled. 'What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?' He chanted in his mind as her lips, seemingly in slowed time, drew closer to his own. He licked his lips and moved gradually closer. Mere inches... centimeters, separated their honest expression of affection for one another.

But it did not turn out the way either one wanted it to. Fearing that Shinji rejected her first kiss, Mayumi opened her eyes expecting nothing but embarrassment and possibly the end of their friendship. Instead, she saw the moonlight reflect off of her glasses, the strange yellow glint reflecting orange in the back of her mind. The orange image in her mind reappeared like a reopened sore, the dull orange light scared her. It frightened her beyond anything else. 'But why!' She brought her hands over her eyes and moved away from the couch, dropping Aiko onto the floor, and backed against the transparent door that lead towards the balcony.

Shinji opened his eyes as he heard Mayumi getting up from the couch and Aiko hitting the floor with a soft thud. He felt a tear a sharp pain reach from his abdomen to his heart. Did he repulse her so much? She tried to kiss him, didn't she? So why? The pain became dull and constant, leaving a gaping, icy hole.

"M-Mayumi?" His voice caught in the back of his throat. "What's wrong..?" He felt the tears sting at his corners, daggers tearing at his flesh.

The voice of her hero penetrated the image that crossed her mind and forced open her eyes-- to her relief, she did not see the mysterious bearded man that was burned into her mind, but of a clearly hurt Shinji. She kept her distance, in case she was hallucinating, in case he was a shape shifting monster.

It must have been his fault. How could he do something to scare her so much; she, who meant so much to him? He closed his eyes expecting her to get her little sister, who was still sleeping somehow, and leave his house and his life. After a few perpetual seconds, he felt shaking hands encircle his waist, and fresh tears hitting his shirt. With caution, he opened his eyes and saw Mayumi holding onto him with a blind force, her arms shaking under the tension she placed on them.

"I'm sorry, S-Shinji! It's not you..! I-I don't k-know... I don't k-know what ha-ppend..." She pleaded desperately, trying to tell him that he was not at fault. She knew, by his heartbroken expression, that he felt he had done something wrong. In truth, Mayumi herself did not know what had happened. The sight of those dull gleaming orange glasses... sent shivers down her spine and scared her to the core. So, with even more desperation and fear, she held onto her hero and would-have-been love interest, tightly; begging for forgiveness for hurting him so deeply.

He was confused and hurt beyond what words he knew could describe-- but seeing Mayumi tearful once again made him put that aside, and laid a gentle arm around her frail body.

Once her shivers subsided, he looked down at her sleeping form, and carried her onto his bed, making sure that he did not wake her. Once he made sure she was comfortable, he placed a blanket over her tired body. He sighed from his emotional weariness and walked out of his room, and sat down on the couch. He couldn't cry, because she did not hate him. He couldn't be angry at her, because whatever, whomever brought her to tears would pay. No, he could only grow angry at his own weakness, and his own inability to help her. 'I'm so weak... I should have been by her side, maybe she wouldn't have gone through... something that would haunt her so...' He ran his hands through his hair. 'Maybe she lied. Maybe it was me...'

With uncertainty in his dull-aching heart, he sat down on the couch and picked up the fallen sister. How she managed to stay asleep through the commotion was beyond him. 'Lazy child...' He placed her on the couch and decided to go into Misato's room, and fell asleep.

--

The older Yamagishi was nervous.

It was lunchtime, and Mayumi once again sat amongst the grass on the hill that overlooked her school. Even if the hill was not very high, she could still see the world beyond her school, the machines that steadily rebuilt the fortress they lived in. The city was gone, but their was still wreckage on ground level. To anyone who was not in the know, it would appear as if the city itself was lost, a shadow of it's former glory; but Mayumi knew, as well as anyone in NERV, that Tokyo-3 would arise once again, from the safety of the Earth beneath them. Even still, the buildings that did meet their destruction and did so at the hands of both the Evangelions and the Angels-- a testament to Shinji's wrath and the fate of those who opposed him.

Thinking about Shinji brought about a warm feeling in her chest, and it comforted her knowing that it was a secret pleasant feeling. Now, after last night, it was no longer hidden. She had tried to kiss him, close, so painfully close; but the menacing orange glow of her own glasses frightened her. It was beyond strange, the way her own glasses reflected an orange glow, and even more strange was that she didn't know why it scared her. That in itself was scary.

Mayumi laid down on the soft grass and stared up at the cloudy sky and it's endless sprawl. She was completely embarrassed about the way she hurt Shinji and the way she had gotten ready for school and left before the boy woke up. It was awkward when he walked in with those habitually weary eyes. The way he walked in, shoulder bag in hand, and looked at her with nervous expectance, until he finally took his seat and waited for class to start.

She sighed as a gust of wind blew her long hair onto her face, somewhat blocking her view of sky.

"Mayumi..?" a soft voice asked.

She moved the hair away from her eyes and looked up to see her sister's emerald eyes. "Ooh... Hey, Aiko."

Aiko sat down beside her sister and laid down too, imitating her perfectly. "Why did you leave so early?"

"I... I just felt bad about being an inconvenience to Shinji..." She lied hesitantly.

Aiko grinned mischievously. "Really now?" Her way of adding emphasis on the 'really' made her sister nervous.

"Y-yeah." She resolved.

"It didn't have anything to do with that little kiss-kiss thing last night, did it?" She teased.

Mayumi chocked at her words. 'Little pipsqueak was awake!'

"I mean... I know you probably had your reason for being scared of your first kiss and all.. but to jump off the couch!" She caught her sister's hand in mid-air, knowing that she would try and cover her mouth before she said any more. She smiled at her successful prediction. "If it were me... I'd probably have already kissed him!"

"Shut-up!" She growled. "You don't know what went on!" She mumbled 'even if you were there'. "You don't know what went on!"

Getting her cue, she rose from her laid back position and grew a bit more serious. "Well, then, what happened?"

Knowing that she was just tricked into telling her sister what went on, she gave up and began informing her of everything that occurred last night.

--

Shinji stood on the rooftop of the school; beside him stood Touji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida. Shinji hadn't told them anything relating to Mayumi and Aiko, mostly due to him not wanting to explain why there was two girls living with him. What he did tell them was about the recent battle. Kensuke had been very persuasive about knowing every little detail involved in the fight-- so he did. He still didn't know why he insisted on recording him while he described the story.

"Kensuke, get the camera off of my face!" He meant that literally.

Doing so, Kensuke grinned at his new Evangelion fight story. "Hehe, thanks Shinji!"

"Man, Kensuke, when don't ya have your camera with ya?"

Kensuke simply grinned and turned off his camera; the disks that held his masterpiece wasn't free, after all.

"Yo, Shinji! You didn't tell us why you decided to hang out with us? What's wrong? Don't you normally hang out with Yamagishi?" Touji asked, ignoring all subtleties.

Shinji hung his head low and leaned against the rails of the rooftop. "Oh... that, well... I--" Shinji looked behind him, at the hills behind the school, and saw Mayumi and Aiko fighting over something he couldn't hear. He frowned; he wanted to go talk to them, badly. He shook his head and ignored his feelings. "-- I think they need their privacy right now." He half-lied.

Touji looked behind him and scratched his head. "Ay... I see your point." He turned back towards the track field. "Any idea why they actin' like that?"

Kensuke decided to chime in. "Maybe they're fighting over you, Shinji!"

Shinji blushed and turned away. "Stop it. They're probably just fighting over sister-stuff."

--

Both huffed on the grass, too tired to continued their mock-fight, and tried their best to not look like they had been fighting each other for the past five minutes. Mayumi laid down next to her sister and looked back up at the cloud-filled sky.

Aiko got up and grinned mischievously at her sister. "Is that all? Some little illusion that got in your eyes?" She folded her arms and pouted. "It was probably the medication!"

Mayumi bared her teeth in annoyance. "I'm not on medication! It was just..." Her annoyance disappeared. "I... I should talk to him..."

"Well, duh! It's not like you can avoid it. We are living in his house... at least until our side of the city is fixed up."

Mayumi closed her eyes and shut the view of the cloudy sky away. "I know. I... I'll talk to him after school. We'll have to walk home together, right?"

"Should I join in, or should I follow from a distance? I don't want to intrude on your good time." She stressed the 'good time' part, adding as much sensuality as she could with her juvenile voice. Mayumi blushed, but did not respond. After all, did she want to be alone with him? Yes; but did she want to be alone with him after the events that had occurred last night? She wasn't looking forward to it. She sighed and opened her eyes.

"Actually... considering what happened last night, I'd like it if you tagged along." She didn't like asking anything of Aiko, but she needed her help this time.

The younger Yamagishi smiled at her sister's reluctance. "I had planned to anyway!"

--

Mayumi stood outside of the school gates, leaning against the steel bars, waiting impatiently for the young Eva pilot. She was nervous, to say the least. She had left the classroom as soon as the bell had rung, and she did not look back, making sure to avoid Shinji's eyes. She should have talked to him then and there-- but she couldn't. How would it sound if she had told him the reason why she back away from him so hurtfully, because she saw a orange glow in the reflection of her own glasses, and it caused her to freak out? It sounded so absurd it was almost laughable. So all she was left with was regret and utter embarrassment.

She looked to her left and saw Shinji walking down the steps of the school, Aiko in tow. From what she could tell, Aiko was trying to cheer Shinji up from something-- probably from what she had done; that made her feel even worse. She hung her head low as they neared her.

Aiko held Shinji's hand as she led him towards her older sister. "C'mon, aren't you two being a little immature?"

Shinji said nothing but avoided looking at Mayumi. He didn't appear to be sad or angry, he just was.

Mayumi looked at her shoes and used one of her hands to idly stroke her hair as seconds passed between the three in awkward silence. Aiko was, of course, angry, but she knew her sister would eventually come around. Shinji was different. From the short time she knew him, she could already imagine him blaming himself for what had happened. That didn't sit right with her.

"Okay you two!" She placed her hands on her hips and frown with some anger. "Shinji, I'm sure Mayumi had her reasons from freaking out back there, okay!" She walked over to Shinji and poked at his side. He looked down, but not at her. "Maybe she was just scared?" She walked over to her older sister in a huff. "Mayumi! You know you like him, so get over your own embarrassment and kiss him already! I'm tired of waiting to see you two get all lovey-dovey." She paused. "I haven't been able to see my favorite soaps in awhile."

Students around them left the school with confused faces, but some, mostly the female students, stayed and observed with mock-subtly. This of course had the opposite effect of what Mayumi thought her sister wanted. She walked over to Shinji, head bowed, and took his hand. She would not give him her first kiss in front of such a gawking crowd. She lead the surprised and blushing Shinji away from the school and onto a bench, several blocks away from the school.

Shinji, whose faint blush was partly hidden by a small frown on his face, had followed without true hesitation. It was not as if he did not want to talk to her, but he was so unfamiliar with the opposite sex, especially with girls his age, that talking to them about romantic involvement seemed impossible. He knew he had felt feelings towards Mayumi, but, like all the things in life he desired, he knew it wouldn't be. No, he was better off simply being the shield that protected her, nothing more.

Both sat down on the bench and looked at the floor beneath their feet. Aiko stood behind them, leaving them to their own devices.

"Soo..."

"Yeah..."

An awkward silence was still held, despite the constant hum of machinery in the distance.

Realizing that she had to say something, Mayumi moved towards Shinji and closed their distance to mere centimeters. Despite her bold actions, her mouth would not work. The words caught into her throat and caused her to swallow them back into her heart. She couldn't say anything, and her lack of words, accompanied by Shinji's far off look, made a nervous frown cross her face. In the end, she bowed her head and sighed in personal defeat.

She felt a jab at her back, something small and pointy. Looking back in surprised, she saw Aiko with a smug look plastered onto her face, and she knew what she meant. 'How is it that she's so much more like my older sister?' She sighed and contemplated a plan of action. Shinji was not paying any attention to her. He was looking sadly across the street, at nothing in particular, but he must have been thinking about something important, his face was so sad and stern. Fortifying her will, she decided that since her mouth did not seem to work, she would have to do something more. With a blush tinged on her cheeks before she could even begin, she moved her hand towards his and placed hers' on top of his.

Shinji's austere expression vanished as soon as he felt Mayumi's slender fingers move over his own. Without turning towards her, Shinji lowered his head, attempting to hide the redness that appeared on his face, and turned his hand upward, accepting her hand and entwining their fingers together. He couldn't say anything, but he allowed himself a shy smile on his usually reserved mien and faced it towards the cracked concrete beneath his feet.

Mayumi, having the same color on her cheeks as the boy who held her hand, beamed vividly. 'He's not mad! He's not mad! He likes me! Shinji likes me!' She chanted gleefully. The simply act of hand holding seemed to have brought the sable-haired girl out of her short depression. Without thinking too much, she completely closed the gap between them, their hips touching lightly, and brought their hands on top of their laps-- but they did not look at each other. Both were afraid of a reoccurrence.

After some time, Shinji cleared his throat and looked at his 'Girlfriend..? What are we to each other..?' Shaking his head, he looked coyly at her. "Lets... go home."

Mayumi blushed furiously. "S-Sure..."

Aiko looked back and grin stupidly. 'Well, it's a nice start.'

--

Misato growled and smashed her fist onto the console in front of her.

While the rest of the NERV personnel was working either on disposal of the two angel carcasses or reconstruction of the destroyed sections of Tokyo-3, she had to leave and deal with the newest competition on the angel destruction scene, The Jet Alone Project. She was perfectly fine simply supervising the reconstruction, since she didn't really do anything but yell orders, but she had to be hauled away from an easy, albiet boring, job to deal with a run away government funded robot.

It was almost comical, the appearance of the bulky automaton, that was intended to overthrow the NERV operations and suppose to work even better than an Evangelion. Though the Evangelion fights were never shown to the public, the battles against the angels were known throughout the political world. To think that such a rigid and inflexible machine could do what the Evangelions do was almost laughable. The Jet Alone was as tall as the Evangelion; so size was not the issue, the problem was the uniform movements and slow speed. Tactically speaking, it was an open target to the unknown enemy.

Despite it's large bulk and rigid movements, it did represent a threat-- not to angels, but humans. The Jet Alone had malfunctioned and is en route towards Tokyo-3, it's nuclear reactor being it's means of great destruction; and to a city that was already being reconstructed, that spelt doom. Now, she had to take control and use the Evangelion, call Shinji from a well-deserved rest, and stop the nuclear reactor inside to end it's so-called rampage. She sighed angrily and took out the suit that would have to protect her inside of the nuclear innards of Jet Alone. Putting on the suit, she sat down on the bench and dialed Shinji's cell.

"Damn it... I hate having to bother him so soon after two angels..." But she knew Shinji would do what he felt he had to do-- Whether it was the best thing for him or not.

--

Mayumi, draped in her loose hanging green pajamas, walked over to Aiko, who was idly watching the TV in the living room on the couch, and sat down next to her. Aiko yawned childishly and stretched out before leaning on the arm of the couch. Mayumi laid down on the length of the couch, letting one leg hang loosely from the side and the other propped up, and leaned against Aiko and brought her hair towards her, stroking the length of Aiko's raven hair in her hand. It was something that she liked doing, even when she had no real reason or excuse to do so.

Aiko did not mind it at all, but at the moment she was tired; so she grabbed Mayumi's hand and smile mischievously at her. Mayumi knew that she was going to suffer through her sister's relentless teasing. So she sighed and waited for the pain.

"Hey sis... why are you here? Isn't Shinji in his room-- I mean, Shinji's and your room, right now?" She smirked as Mayumi's blush faintly appeared. "You should get to bed. I'm sure he's just eager to get some... sleep." She coughed the last word out.

Pulling her sister's hair a little, Mayumi countered. "Even if Shinji and I are... together... we are still guests in his house!" Her faint redness disappeared. "Besides, I wouldn't let him give us his or Ms. Katsuragi's room."

"Why not? We wouldn't have to sleep on this couch!" She pat the couch for added emphasis.

"Well, he said that he could clean Ms. Katsuragi's room for us, but I wouldn't let him. It was..." Images of the mess that was Misato's room flashed across her mind. "... it would have taken far too long to clean up. And I'm not about to kick him out of his room, no matter how much he kept insisting that he wouldn't mind."

"You should have at least gone into his room; I could have at least gotten the couch for myself!" She shook herself and moved Mayumi's head, proving her point of the cramp space. "Or should I take the opportunity?"

Mayumi's face turned a bright red. "You little pipsqueak! I can overlook you sleeping with him while I was in the hospital--" The 'sleeping with him' part left a sour taste in her mouth. It didn't sound right; not in her mind. "-- but your not allowed to do that again! You may be younger than me-- and a lot shorter-- but that still is no excuse."

A small vein appeared on Aiko's forehead as 'pipsqueak' and 'shorter' entered her ears. "I'm not that short! You..! You.. Slut!"

"Oh, looks who's talking!"

"Harlot!"

"Tramp!"

"Whore!"

"Arghh!"

The bickering continued between the two siblings, completely unaware that the noise traveled to Shinji's room. He understood that siblings often fought over things, despite any actual experience, but it still seemed more than what was necessary. 'Still... at least they're safe...'

Shinji smiled at the ceiling above his head and sighed in awkward content. Such a moment might seem, and might be, weird, but to him it was a normal day. Normal. It meant that the Evangelion did have it's good sides; without it, he could not have all that he has, and that made it worth it. He just wished it did not have to be so often, and so dangerous-- but that wishful thinking would be in vain.

The phone rang.

--

_On the Phone_

"Shinji!"

"Misato..?"

"Section II will be escorting you to the NERV Airfield. Get ready for them! You have to pilot the Evangelion."

Shinji's mouth went dry. "Airfield? But why?"

"Your going to help me stop Jet Alone. It's malfunctioning and your going to have to stop it before it's nuclear reactor blows over Tokyo-3!"

Without really caring what was the threat, angle or not, he tightened his grip on the phone. "It's heading here!" Recalling his knowledge of the precautions of the shelters, he looked outside his room to see Mayumi and Aiko fighting over something. "B-But if it's radioactive, the shelters won't--"

"I know about the shelters!" She zipped up her suit. "That's why there's no room for mistakes! Wait for NERV security to--"

"B-But... Mayumi and Aiko are here! What if I make a mistake? The radiation would--" He knew it was unwise to argue when the city was under threat, but he had to ensure their safety under any and all circumstances. "Misato! I want Mayumi and Aiko in NERV HQ!"

"We don't have time for that Shinji! The Jet Alo--"

"Misato!" He practically screamed, stopping the two sisters in the middle of their mock-fight. "I want them in NERV HQ! I don't want them to--"

In no mood to argue, Misato submitted angrily. "Fine! Tell Section II that I authorized the two to be placed under their protection, now hurry up!"

_End Phone Call_

--

"Mayumi, Aiko, get dressed! We've gotta go!" Shinji yelled walking out of his room while placing his arm through the sleeve of his shirt.

Mayumi let go of Aiko, who then rubbed her neck gently, and walked towards Shinji, who was sweating lightly. He was worried. Knowing him, it was over their safety, but what could have caused such a behavior? He seemed to dreading something imminent.

"Section II is gonna pick us up and then take you two to NERV." He finished putting on his shirt and did not bother to tie his shoes.

"Shinji.. what's going on? Is it another angel?" Her voice was heavy with worry. Outside, the sound of people running up the steps of the apartment could be heard.

Hearing the footsteps, he grit his teeth in frustration. "Dammit, there's no time. Just put on some shoes or something, they're already here!"

Seeing his worried eyes, Mayumi and Aiko got ran towards the entrance of the apartment and placed their shoes on; almost at the same instant, Section II men opened the door to the apartment and scanned the room behind their darkened glasses. Seeing the two girls putting on their shoes in nothing but their pajamas, one of the men continued to scan the room until his eyes met the third childs'. "Shinji Ikari. We are here to escort you to the airfield."

Seeing that the two were as ready as they would be in the time they had, Shinji looked at the NERV members. "M-Misato said that they are to be placed in Section II security while I'm gone."

The man was not fazed. "We have not received orders from Captain--"

Barely remembering the man speaking to him, Shinji's eyes sharpened. "You remember who was placed under my custody, right? Misato placed her in my custody, so if her safety and that of her sister isn't guaranteed, I can'--"

Tired of the boy's speech, the man gave in-- time was of the essence, after all. "We will place both under NERV protection. Now, let's go."

Mayumi looked at Shinji' stern eyes and a small smile formed on her face. 'He's... does he really care about me-- us that much..?' Once the thought floated out of her mind, Mayumi felt Shinji's hand take her own. Her surprised look disappeared quickly when she looked at his now worried irises. "Let's go, Mayumi, Aiko."

Both shook their heads and rushed down the stairs and into the black car.

--

Shinji looked at the steel floor beneath the blue of his plug suit with no real interest.

He didn't want to look at her: she might soon die, and seeing her smiling, confident expression right before her death was something he could not deal with. Misato had assured him that she could shut off the reactor, but what if she couldn't? What would he do then? He had to push those thoughts away. All he had to do was pilot the Eva and do his job, right? Everybody was safe, including Misato.

But, it was then that it occurred to him; Misato had begun to leave her mark on him-- as permanent as the scar that ran near her breasts. He didn't want to cry over her, but he already felt the tears building. She was right in front of him, yet his eyes were damp with the image of her lifeless body.

He shook the pessimistic thoughts away from his mind's eye and brought his hand to his right eye. He covered the iris and ran his fingers through his growing hair. He looked as if he was on the edge: a few more fights away from his futile attempt to live.

'Heh... I'm always like this, right before I get into the Eva...' He thought sardonically.

He found it funny, the way he would occasionally seem to have a spirit for battle, and yet, it was far from humorous. He made sure that, even if he and Misato should fail to stop the Jet Alone, Mayumi and Aiko would be safe-- he took solace in that, but now that his first priority was fulfilled, he had his own life, and that of Misato's, to take care of. And he would. He would shoulder it all, even if he had no real reason to, he had to carry it's weight, the immense pressure.

Even though Death might be the only thing, the only form, that could grant him freedom from the pain he felt so constantly, he feared it's cold presence. Despite the relief that Death promised, he knew he could never take his own life, he was too scared. Fear kept his heart beating, the air entering his lungs, and his body continuing the self punishment involved in piloting the Evangelion. That was his main excuse, but, recently, he found that his fear was replaced by his need to protect someone. No. More than one.

Shinji sighed heavily and dropped his arms onto his knees. 'This could only happen to someone like me...'

Misato must have noticed his troubled expression-- she couldn't possibly had missed it. She must have ignored it. Misato knew better than to interrupt deep thought. If interrupted, whatever made Shinji do what he did might waver his resolve, spelling doom for Tokyo-3-- and Earth. It was something she had mentally made sure to recall before she fell into slumber, Shinji's seemingly sporadic and uncommon acts of gallantry and selflessness. While she could only assume that the almost sudden changes in her charge could have come about by the sable-haired girl that had, ostensibly, fallen for Shinji, she was more than certain it was not a completely beneficial thing. He was falling apart, not suddenly, but he was crumbling at his foundations and there didn't seem to be an end to the angels' unremitting attacks.

It hurt her, for some strange reason, seeing Shinji so strained, but it couldn't be helped. The entire future of the world was on the tender shoulders of the children who can pilot the Evangelions: there simply was no other way for survival.

Misato raised her head and placed the zipped up on her radioactive-proof suit. "It's time." She walked towards the door and pushed a glowing button, opening the room towards a large hangar, revealing the enormous Evangelion. "Get in. Once you activate, you'll only have 5 minutes of battery power. Right before your Eva is released, open the Eva's palm and place it near this door. I'll get on, so make sure I don't fall, but don't make too tight a fist. I don't want to end up as a stain on the Eva's hand." She tried to jest lightly, but it seemed to have the opposite effect to Shinji.

"Misato... be careful."

--

It was even bigger than the Evangelion, the giant cargo plane. And yet, despite it's size, the cargo was far more valuable than the technological marvel that was the flying building. The plane's cargo hangar, large enough to fit a small portion of Tokyo-3 in it's stomach, opened up and released two elongated rails that extended as tall as a large building-- or an Evangelion. Unit-01 was lifted from the metal floor of the plane and carried off onto the rail's and forced down until it's feet met the very end.

With a whirring click, the Evangelion was held near the back of the plane, kept in the air by the two rails that attached onto it's purple, green, and black shoulder/wings. The metal strained under it's weight, but it would hold-- it had too. With a simple command, the Evangelion's eyes glowed a lightning white amongst the black socket. Shinji looked up and saw Misato waiting by the door of the room they just left. Extending the Eva's hand, Shinji cautiously and carefully placed it's upturned palm close to her, allowing her to climb onto the mechanical mass.

"Careful... careful..." The purple hand closed just enough to allow Misato some room. He yelled through the external speakers. "Misato! Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah... I'm fine." She braced herself. "Docking release!"

"Roger."

The gears on the side of the tracks rotated and release the heavy burden on it's metal form. From the sky, Shinji could feel the sudden rush of air that was once on his face all over him. Despite the LCL, he felt the open skies rush past his hair, ears and eyes; the reality of the enormous freefall felt far too real. Once the air began to stop it's rapid movement in his hair and gravity had almost finished it's job, the Evangelion raised it's knees and landed on it's feet, it's haunches absorbing the force of the Earth.

As the debris from the old and decrepit concrete flew around his epicenter, Shinji looked around to see that, luckily, the land was bare and there didn't seem to be any nearby homes. He looked down at his semi-clenched fist-- Misato was fine. Knowing that she was safe, for now at least, the Evangelion lurched forward and ran towards the faint, large moving object in the distance. Shinji extended Unit-01's hand as the Eva ran forward. The luminous moon that stood between them glowed eerily as memories flooded into his battle-weary mind.

_"Shinji, we can't let Jet Alone get any closer to Tokyo-3. So I want you ride along side of it and hold it down so you can place me onto it's back."_

_"You're going to get on top of that thing? To break into that it!"_

_"That's right." She said casually._

_"But that's just crazy!"_

_"I know, but I'm afraid there isn't any better way for us to stop it."_

_"But that's just too dangerous!" His fist clenched on top of his knees._

_"Don't worry." Misato placed her hand onto Shinji's shoulder. "Unit-01's armor can handle both the explosion and the radiation if we fail to stop Jet Alone."_

_"Not for Eva! I meant for you!_

_"Well... I have to give it my best shot, you know?" Her hand held tighter onto his shoulder. "My conscious won't let me do otherwise."_

_Shinji's worried expression was not in the least subtle. Of course, Misato didn't consider that he was too worried about her, at least not in comparison to who else he must have been worried for, so she playfully punched his shoulder. "Don't worry, Shinji," her voice as motherly as it was assuring, "once we stop the Jet Alone's movements, the only worst possible scenario would be that it blows up. We'll be far enough to save Tokyo-3 from further damage." She smiled at his vexed face. "What? Mayumi and Aiko will be perfectly safe, so do--"_

_"I-I know they'll be safe! But your putting yourself in too much danger! You could still be inside of Jet Alone when it blows up!"_

_"Well... then it's better that we don't mess up, right?" She was honestly flattered by his angry concern. "Once we're done, I'll buy you something pretty." She ruffled his hair, trying her best to keep his thoughts away from failure._

Shinji snapped back to reality when he saw a large robot in the distance.

"I can see it!"

"Okay," Misato's voice was shaken, but strong. "Catch up to it and hold it back, then place me near the entrance to the back of the Jet Alone. I'll handle the rest!"

"Right..."

The Evangelion's feet contacted the cracked concrete and tore through the barren landscape until Shinji saw something that stopped the blood in his veins. There, beyond the sight of a normal man, stood Tokyo-3, defenseless. The ice that floated in his veins caused his hands to clutched the controls with painful force, his knuckles cracking under the stress.

'It's right in front of me!' His eyes sharpened as the Jet Alone seemed mere inches away. The Evangelion's unoccupied hand grabbed onto the back of the bulky mass and pulled at the handle shaped section as a cowboy would rein in a horse. And just like a wild steed, the Jet Alone resisted it's outside control and strained forward, causing the Evangelion's heels to bury into the decaying ruins underneath it.

Shinji was not going to let the Jet Alone even touch the outskirts of his new home. Unit-01's hand pulled back, finally, with enough force to keep the machine in check.

Shinji looked at Misato giving him a thumbs up.

"Good job, Shinji! Now, get me on top of it!"

"R-Right..." He didn't want to, of course.

Unit-01 extended the hand that Misato stood on and brought it over the entrance into the Jet Alone's radioactive innards. "Don't think about it! Do it!" Without any other thought, the hand moved toward the entrance and spread the two fingers that Misato blocked Misato from falling.

Misato jumped down onto the back of the Jet Alone, landing on all her haunches and falling onto all four in an attempt to keep balance. Misato stood up cautiously and waved at Shinji, assuring him that she was fine. She ran towards the door and opened the hatch only to be assaulted by a rush of hot air and the faint red glow the room in the center of the machine had given off. "Damn... this is going to be harder than I thought..." Misato took the handle bars at the side of the entrance and jumped inside of the red abyss.

Seeing that the door closed behind Misato, Shinji turned his focused attention on the still-resistant Jet Alone. "Grrr... stop moving you bastard!" The Evangelion pulled back on the handle in it's hand and moved in front of the automaton, using both of it's arms to hold the Jet Alone in place. 'Misato' he thought desperately, 'please hurry up...'

--

"Damn him... It's been too long."

It had been some time since she had parted from her newfound, mutual love interest, and it was weighing her down with worry and fear over his life. How many hours had it been since he received that phone call? Her attraction towards him seemed to be a double-edged sword.

Was it smart to fall in love with a friend? Was it smart to fall in love with the pilot of an enormous bio-mechanical robot; whose job include risking his short life? Once again, another question entered her mind.

'Why is he piloting the Eva? He's only fourteen... he's not a soldier. And it doesn't seem like he was... stable when I first met him. Why does he have to pilot? He could be hurt. He could be killed... he could killed..'

She chanted her dreaded fear by instinct, as if acknowledging it might somehow stop such an event from occurring. They were in the care of Section II, but she still didn't feel safe, not without him by her side. Aiko must feel the same the way. She was strong, stronger than her short stature would allow her to show, but she felt in her heart that Aiko had warmed up to Shinji; almost like an older sister would love her younger brother, as strange as that sounded, it made sense to her.

The orange lights of a new day had already begun breaking through the clouds, twisting the dark navy blue color out of the pearl-black of the night sky-- it had been more than just a few hours, she noted. But it was the sky that made her even more fearful for her Shinji- 'Yes, my Shinji.'- it had been far too long. Was he hurt? Was he dead? He beat angels before, so this one would fall before him too. She had lost far too much to lose someone else that meant so much to her.

It was after that thought that she cried in the corner of the room, shrouded in blue and orange by the shadow of the sky. She had lost her father, and now she realized that she had fallen for someone who was just as mortal as he was. Giant monsters could not defeat him, but, like her father, a knife could bring him down. She could lose him, and that chilled her to the core. So she cried.

Aiko, who was catching up on her sleep, woke up at the sounds of shudders and sobs, immediately frowning and understanding. She was worried about Shinji too, but she was not crying about it. He would come back tired and exhausted as usual, but he would always cheer up after seeing her sister. They hug, hopefully kiss even, and then part from each other for some time out of embarrassment. Aiko would tease her and they'd fight. It wouldn't change, and she liked it that way. It was like when her father came home from work, tired from the steel girders and flying sparks, and he would give her a tired hug when she childishly jumped onto him, using what little energy he had left to put up with her constant jumping and talking of her boring day at school with a bit too much verbose.

The faded memories of her father and Shinji blended together, a spun spider web of memories strung in her heart. She smiled as she fell back to sleep on her sister's lap, knowing that everything would end up in their favor.

--

Misato leaned against the slightly cooled metal walls of the Jet Alone's innards, sweating moving down her drained body. She had succeeded in stopping the machine, just barely, and was sitting down near the console that had malfunctioned in the worst possible time. It was a relief that Tokyo-3 was safe, but something in her gut told her that it wasn't her that performed that little miracle. After all, acts of man are better than acts of God.

"Uggh!" she grunted as she pushed herself off the floor and stood in the cramp control room.

"Misato! Are you alright! I can't believe you did it! I thought that you were going to... I just..." Shinji's words started ecstatic but slowed down and eventually sobered when he admitted his worry over her. It would have touched Misato how much she meant to the young pilot, but right now her mind was preoccupied by the possibilities on what could have been the cause of her unlikely solo success.

"It's okay, Shinji. I'm fine..." Misato walked towards the exit and opened the door, revealing the rising sun. "Let's go home."

Shinji clutched his controls. "Misato, I kinda forgot to mention that, ugh..."

"What?"

"I'm sorry... but I couldn't let them go to those tented shelters... I let Mayumi and Aiko live in our house until their's is fixed..!"

Misato would have been angry at the uninvited guest in her home, but she couldn't. Why? Simply; Shinji will be teased and embarrassed like no other time before. "It's alright, just make sure to keep it down at night." The gurgle of LCL bubbles made Misato giggle at her expertise.

--

To be continued.

--

Author's Notes: Edited This has been slightly edited so it can look and be more... well... readable and understandable. Not too much, though.

Well, I'm sorry that it took so long to make this chapter. I've been busy with school, planning for colleges, and basic teenage crap. Nothing too much to say, just that after I finish applying for financial aid and all the other things I'll be able to concentrate on the story. It get a lot more... depressing later on, but that's well after the arrival of Asuka.

Oh, and that Aiko and Shinji thing, don't worry about it, the whole Shinji and his 'father complex' will play a key role in the development of Shinji and his relationship with Mayumi and Aiko. The foot thing, well.. Experience in real life also play into my story. Not the giant robot thing, though… yet.

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy. Don't sue, cause I'm already broke.

Thank you for all the reviews.

They are all very appreciated and are used to make sure you enjoy and understand my piece.

This is the seventh chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

**How did we end up here? Running from place to place, hiding for our lives... only to end back at the place we started?**

**I should be the one asking that, shouldn't I?**

**I guess your right... well... I'll start from where you asked from. Asuka's arrival... but first, I'll tell you a few more things.**

**--**

"You should know that it was not love that drove him, but a misguided sense of duty. He had made a promise to her, motivated by childhood love, one that was now broken and undone; and like all mistakes he had made in the past, he intended to fix it with sheer force. A noble goal to be sure, but a selfish one as well. He wanted to rid himself of the guilt and misery he felt caused by his own blind and emotionally motivated intents. A man with great power, but naive at heart."

She flipped through the pages of the book, her fingers moving limply and carefully through the old yellowed pages of the tome in her hand, and smiled at her sister's resistance of the words that left her lips. Prior times reminded her that her sibling would only feign disinterest for the sake of annoying her, but in actuality would take every word to heart and memory. Though she had to admit that the pillows over her ears were a nice touch.

"He leapt across rooftop to rooftop, scaling the tallest obstacles and crossed the most dangerous of gaps, all for her; his friend, his burden, and foremost of all, his love." Mayumi closed the book in her hand, set it aside on the table next to the couch and placed her hand on top of her sister's head with a bit too much force. "Alright Short-stuff, time for you to go to sleep."

With a vein apparent in her forehead as she bared her teeth behind the smile. "I'm not feeling very tired right now, Sis." She struggled to get up from under the sheets that covered her, but Mayumi kept her in place. "Get off of me! You weigh a ton!" It was a definite lie, but it still got to her older sister for some reason. Must be a teenage thing.

"That was rude. Midget." Her eye twitched with anger, signaling the daily ersatz fight.

It was at that time that Misato walked out of her room scratching across her bare flat stomach, yawning about it being too late for book-learnin'. Her normally dark lavender hair was now a mess, but it did not distract Mayumi from what she was blushing and frowning at. She was well-developed, especially considering her pure Japanese descent, and that made her inferiority complex rise to an ocean's surface. So much so that it made the sable-haired girl nervous of Shinji living with such a temptress. She was there now, but it wouldn't be permanent.

Letting go of her sister's ankle, Mayumi bowed and apologized to her temporary caretaker, but was waved away when Misato said she disliked formality; it made her feel old apparently. She disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes, occasionally hearing the sound of a can opening. That was 20 minutes and 4 'pops' later.

The sable-haired girl frowned at Misato as she walked back from the refrigerator. 'She's so... so...' Mayumi's thoughts were interrupted when Shinji walked out his room with sleep-drained eyes.

"S-Shinji...! I'm sorry, did we wake you?" The sleep seemed to increase slightly as his eyes focused on the two on his couch. "I'm sorry. It was Aiko, she was being a pain so--"

"What! You're the one that--" Aiko was cut off as her head was dropped onto the couch. "Hmm uouh bgtcgh..!"

"-- Sorry..." She looked away and lowered her head. Her imposition on his house was bad enough, but now she woke him up after all that has happened. 'How much could he put up with? How long can he put up with me?' She bit lightly into her bottom lip and looked down at her feet, making sure that Aiko still had her face planted onto the couch.

"Hmm? Ugh... No, it's alright. I couldn't sleep anyway." He lied. Shinji ran a hand through his unruly hair and walked over to Misato. "Misato, don't you think it's a bit too late to be drinking?" His voice was vaguely annoyed.

"What?" She burped before continuing. "It's never too late or too early for a drinky-poo..!" She grinned widely and placed her arm around his shoulder; she must have had a few before this. She was the best at holding down her medicine. "Now, Shinji... I just wanted to say that -hiccup- I'm so proud of you..!" She slurred almost every word and breathed too close to Shinji's nose for his own comfort. "You've done so much already, but your still -hiccup- going strong! Your even helping out your two little girlfriendssss... -hiccup-." His so-called guardian placed more of her weight onto him and giggled from the weariness and sleep deprivation.

Shinji sighed and began leading her back into her room with some struggle. "C'mon... time for you to go to bed too."

Misato giggled as she was led back into her bedroom. "Ooooh... in front of your two -hiccup- girlfriends? That's weird... but if it's okay with youuu... -hiccup-."

When both residents of the apartment left the living room, Mayumi was still frowning and faintly red from the scene that occurred in front of her. It seemed so... natural to both of them. The purple-haired woman acted so differently at home, she was almost a different person from the one she saw at NERV. The calm and collected tactician had to be a split personality.

She was drunk in the middle of the night, yet Shinji helped his charge into bed, the woman who was suppose to take care of him, and did it with a tired smile across his face, finding the situation more humorous than serious, if not slightly annoyed. Her frown deepened from sudden pikes of jealousy piercing into her frail eggshell heart. It's not as if she wanted to be the inebriated one in his arms, but she could not help but feel her russet eyes flick with green as she watched her love interest softly slide the door to his guardian's room with a glimmer in his over-stressed iris'.

"Are you even listening, Mayumi!"

Snapping back from her fit of jealousy, Mayumi realized that she had let go of her younger sister, who had been busy talking to nothing but an occupied mind and deaf ears. "Huh? What do you want?"

To say the least, the only thing missing from Aiko was the steam shouting out of her ears. "I was talking about you not wanting to look bad in front of Shinji! Just cause your trying to make a good impression doesn't mean I have to come out as loud and obnoxious!" She yelled far too close to ear.

"Well you aren't helping yourself very well, are you!"

"What..?-- You tricked me!"

Mayumi knew that no matter how smart her sister was in the ways of schooling, that she would still remain the child; one of innocence that reflected in her mannerisms and idiosyncrasies, which helped her ignore her all the more. She moved the locks of hair that moved across her glasses and looked at the confused pilot.

There were no words that could describe the enervated look in her love's eyes, a look that made her mentally scold herself for taking advantage of his generosity and martyrdom. The hardships he endured, the sacrifices in his mind, body, and soul, all in a matter of weeks-- and he stood there, before her russet eyes, with a confused smile underneath his strained eyes. She almost felt like slapping him, just so that he would be angry at her-- to see that he was not selflessly giving himself for her, that he had his regrets, limits to his adoration for her and her younger sister. But almost was the key word. How could she refuse him? He'd given her so much. She knew that his generosity was something she both admired and made her fall deeper for him.

After all, she had told herself that she deserved some bit of happiness, right? The sable-haired girl had had such an arduous past, maybe she finally found it, someone that would be there for her. She shielded her beloved Aiko from so much, protected her from all the difficulties their family had faced in the past and present for so long, maybe Shinji would be her rock in the swirling tides. It seemed greedy and desirous, but she could not help but burry herself in the captivating idea. So much was the idea enthralling that she no longer saw the living room she stood in or her sister ranting beside her.

She held her tears back with ease, for she had dealt with her own tears far too long to not accustom to their salty tinge, and stared into the blue depths of her love's eyes. Though her mouth did not move past a slight smile, her eyes betrayed her fairly well hid emotions.

"Mayumi?" She did not react, but continued to stare, making Shinji increasingly nervous. "M-Mayumi? You feeling okay?"

"-- And another thing! How come I have to sleep with your feet in my face! Mayumi..! Mayumi!"

Snapping back into reality, Mayumi's eyes widen and face tinged with red from embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry, Shinji!" She lifted her falling glasses with both hands in an attempt to hide her blushing. "I... I kinda spaced out..." She sat down on the couch and begun running her fingers through one of the locks of hair hanging on either side and over her ears.

Shinji, too somnolent to have any real thoughts in his head, moved his hands through his scruffy hair once again, as he did every time he was unsure of what to do, and was about to leave by saying goodnight, but was stopped by a sudden question. "Say, Shinji... since the school is going to be closed for the rest of the week... do you want to... hang out somewhere?" Without missing a beat, she faltered. "If you want to! If you don't, I'll understand, really!"

Her younger sister, finally ending her complaining, stood and looked from Shinji to Mayumi and Mayumi to Shinji, confused as to what was going on. Probably something to do with Mayumi saying something stupid, she thought. She was never good with the boys, anyway.

"I'd... um... sure." When he was as over-worked as he was, being nervous and shy took too much energy.

Mayumi's cheeks flushed to a shade of red as deep as her sister's pajamas. With a single finger, she raised her glasses back to it's proper place. Not knowing anything proper to say, she settled with, "T-Thanks, Shinji..." That sounded too simple for her, so she continued, "...not just for what you just said, but for everything..." She felt like a 12 year old, asking her first crush if they liked them back, and receiving the answer that sent their adolescent heart soaring. Hopefully it would end with a bit more permanent commitment.

"Listen to me dammit!" Aiko huffed.

--

**But how did you hear all that? We're not that loud.**

**I told you, I can hear very well.**

**Or maybe it was all that time you spent with Mr. Kaji.**

**I didn't meet him until later. But then again, I guess that's why he offered his help so willingly when I asked for it.**

**It took a bit more convincing when I asked for it though. Probably cause I'm a girl.**

**I wouldn't exactly call you a girl, now. Would you?**

**I guess your right, but I meant it back then. Still, that was pretty mean.**

**Heh. Well, let me go on with my story.**

--

It was ten in the morning and no one but the Yamagishi's stood in the apartment awake and eager for a new day. The sun once again shone bright, away from the Earth, causing the albedo of their mother planet to glow eerily soothing. This was definitely a day that promised the best for the children who frolicked in the parks and cracked streets of Tokyo-3, a day where the children of mother Gaia could play outside of the cold shadows of the "bottoms".

The city was about two-thirds of the way rebuilt and, best of all, no angels in sight. This made Mayumi cheerful, but also unhappy. Though everything was almost back to normal, it meant that she and her sister would have to go back to their home. Their large and empty home. She didn't want to go back to those pale white walls. She didn't have too long to get accustomed to her newest home, but she never really did with any of her past homes. This temporary home of hers, if she allowed herself the pleasure of calling it so, was somehow more hospitable than all the others she had been in. But it wasn't forever. She would have to leave soon, and that only fed her impatience.

To keep her mind off of unpleasant thoughts, Mayumi walked towards the kitchen to prepare something to eat. If nothing else, she could at least prepare something tasty for her housemates. She may not have been very good at cooking, but it couldn't be as bad as her mother and sister said it was. Could it?

The smell of food reached her little sister in the bathroom. Aiko, having the experience of Mayumi's cooking odor, immediately dropped the toothbrush that was, until recently, in her mouth. It didn't smell bad or anything-- but neither did certain poisons. Aiko knew that she would not be able to deter her sister from cooking, she rarely, if ever, listened to her, but with other people as potential victims she had to at least try.

With one of her slippers off, Aiko rushed out of the bathroom. "Mayumi! Stop it before you embarrass yourself. No one's gonna want to eat that crap you call food! You don't know how to cook!" She flailed her short arms for emphasis. It was at times like this that Mayumi adored the cuteness that came from her little sister, which seemed to permeate the room with ease. Even with the panicked look in her eyes-- maybe even because of it, Mayumi continued to prepare her meal with a small hum on her lips.

"No one else is up and besides, they won't be getting up for awhile." She looked away from the stove with an icy glare for her shorter half. "And remember, we're guest! We should at least try and return their hospitality."

"But you stink at cooking!"

"Keep it down..!-- and it's not that bad!"

"Are your tastes-buds dead or something!"

"No! But you will be in awhile if you don't stop bothering me!"

By some incomprehensible chance, the food behind Mayumi started to sizzle on the plate, sending a sour and bitter smelling cloud of smoke in the air. Both seemed to pause as the realization of what was going on passed through their minds and noses. Aiko, who had a wide enough grin to split her cheeks, looked at Mayumi with smug emerald eyes. Mayumi looked down at her sister, shamed at knowing that her little sister had, once again, known what she was talking about.

About thirty minutes and three burnt sponges and rags later, Mayumi and Aiko stood outside of the corridor which lead to Shinji's and Misato's rooms. They were still asleep, but it didn't seem to matter to the younger Yamagishi. Whether it was due to a lack of manners or her growing fondness and apparent comfort with Shinji, Aiko simply opened the door into Shinji's room and poked her head inside.

"Hey, Shinji. Wake up!" No response, but something shifted on the futon. Probably the person she wished to stir. "Shinji! Wake up! Mayumi said she had a very special present for you!"

Though Shinji was worked up enough to look at the light that came from behind the half-opened door with some dizzied interest, he quickly realized that he was not dreaming and was staring at the two sisters. "Huh..?" He managed to slur out before rubbing the sleep away from his now less weighed down eye lids. "What's going on?"

Aiko must have thought he wasn't awake enough, because within a few seconds, she leapt forward and landed on the poor third child and shook him vigorously. "Wakey-Wakey, Shinji! You've rested enough, haven't you?" The question was completely rhetorical. "Get up so you we can do something!"

Shinji, after gaining what little bit of the senses he had left, looked up at the 12 year old, who had momentarily stopped trying to wake him up, and to the faintly green glowing numbers on his dresser. He had indeed gone past his normal time, but he was tired. Then again, he couldn't refuse his friend's request. Saying "No" just wasn't something that came naturally to him; this was true to her too, maybe even especially to her. He felt he was obligated to listen to every little request she made. Getting up for some unknown reason was an obligation that he knew would annoy him now, but would regret later. So he pushed his weight upward and sat down on his futon, several of his vertebrae's cracking faintly as he forced compliance.

It was really the first time he every really looked at her; Aiko. She looked like her older sister, but upon close inspection he could tell that she had a few subtle differences in facial structure. Maybe she wasn't entirely Japanese? He couldn't tell; he never met their mother. 'She's different. I can't exactly tell what, but she's not completely like her sister. I don't know... maybe it's just me.'

Aiko blinked in confusion and curiosity as Shinji's eyes rested on her own for a few more seconds. Weariness seemed to drain the shyness right out of the boy. Looking at anyone in the eyes for too long usually flustered him. Maybe that was a good thing. "Shinji?"

A tint of red appeared on his cheeks as he realized how intently he was staring at her. "O-Oh... I'm sorry... I guess... I guess I'm still a little tired."

Shinji drew his gaze away from Aiko and towards the silhouette near the door frame. Even without the faint yellow of her vest, Shinji instantly recognized the shadow of his... well, he still wasn't too sure what she was to him. But he knew it was Mayumi, which made him feel awkward as the shadow's right hand clasped it's left arm. Strangely enough, he didn't mind it when Aiko saw him in a state of disarray, he was comfortable, to a degree, with her. Maybe it was because of her age. But her eyes, whether he could see them or not, Mayumi's russet eyes shouldn't have to see him like that. Weak, tired, and barely able to move.

"Umm... M-Mayumi..?"

Hopefully, Mayumi thought, he didn't see her instantly turn red from being address by a bed-ridden Shinji. "Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't see anything! It-it's... Aiko! Get back here, your bothering him! I'm sorry, we shouldn't have woken you up..!"

"N-No, no! It's okay. Really, I was just getting up anyway." Some lies were obvious, but necessary. Hurting her feelings would only cause problems for him and their... relationship. 'Dammit... why is it so hard for me to talk to her..? We held hands... doesn't that mean we should be more... relaxed around each other?--'

"-- hungry..?"

"What?" Shinji was clearly in lost in his own thoughts again.

"I was just asking if... you were hungry." Mayumi avoided eye contact as best she could, choosing instead that looking down at her sandals would be the best course of action. "It might not be that good, but... I.."

"I'm sure it'll be great." He smiled slightly and lifted his thin body with some effort and Aiko's assistance.

Mayumi's cheeks cooled as a smiled developed on her embarrassed expression. "I hope you like it!"

--

**You still can't cook to save your life.**

**Big deal. I can learn.**

**That's what you said the last time. The fire alarm isn't the same thing as the kitchen timer.**

**Will you shut up and go on with it? Your making me feel bad.**

**Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean it.**

**I know, I know. Go on.**

--

Mayumi placed the phone back onto it's proper position and leaned against the cushions of the couch. It had been a boring day, with the exception of that morning, aside from learning that Shinji and Misato would still eat her poor excuse for cooking, so long as they had plenty of water, for Shinji, and beer, for Misato. Twirling a lock of her sable hair with her index finger, she reflected back on how Shinji managed to eat her garbage with a meek smile on his lips. He could have said it tasted like how it looked, but he didn't. It was a bit frustrating to her, but she found herself even more attracted to his unrelenting, quiet and considerate behavior towards her. At least he honestly liked her tea; it was the only thing she could do right in the kitchen.

She sighed quietly and took off her glasses, placing them onto the nightstand that Shinji was nice enough to bring her, contemplating her relationship with the young Ikari. She was too boy-shy to talk to him about anything deeper than school, yet she badly wanted him to know more about him, and for him to know a bit more about her. She wanted to know if he thought about her, like she though about him so frequently. It was frustrating the way she contradicted her thoughts with her inaction. He returned her gestures; she could still feel the warmness of his hand on hers, slightly moist from the nervousness both he and she felt, that much she was grateful for, yet it was not enough. She longed for more intimacy, but knew she could and probably wouldn't be able to work up her mettle enough to try. It was absolutely frustrating.

After breakfast, Misato went back to sleep, mumbling something about not caring about being late to work, and Shinji did the same, though, whether it was a good or a bad thing, he seemed hesitant to leave Mayumi and Aiko alone. Mayumi took it as a good thing; he wanted to be with her, but was too tired to. At least she believed as much.

Her reflecting thoughts were interrupted as Aiko plopped down near her, leaning her head onto Mayumi's shoulder and sighing politely. "Hey."

"Hey."

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing really."

"Oh? Me too."

Comfortable silence fell between the two until Aiko grew impatient. "If you want me to talk to him, I could ask if he likes you-- even though I think it's obvious."

"I don't need you to help me. Besides, your my little sister, aren't I suppose to help you with your problems?"

She made a small sound of smugness, reveling in her sisters attempt to dodge the offer.

Mayumi often tried to help her sister in whatever way possible; be it from cleaning the house when Mother was gone or cooking when Mayumi woke up late. Maybe she felt that she had to, even though she didn't mind acting as a surrogate mother for Aiko when their real mother was at work late at night, but she appreciated and usually denied her the possibility of giving assistance. What were big sisters for anyway?

"Well, shouldn't you sneak into his room and kiss him goodnight? I bet he'd sleep better." She loved teasing her older sister, even if it usually ended in semi-play fighting.

"Don't be a brat." Mayumi yawned and laid down on top of the large couch, stretching the sore muscles of her healing body.

"Who were you talking to? On the phone, I mean."

"I was talking to Hikari. She gave me her number a while ago, and I wanted to talk to her." She wanted to laugh at that moment. She vividly remembered how her friend reacted when she mentioned were she was calling from in the middle of the night. "It was... nice."

"You have a new friend and Shinji... I'm kinda jealous."

Mayumi raised an eyebrow at her sister's statement. "What?"

"You know I don't.. really talk to people right away. So I'm just saying... I'm jealous."

"I... It was just luck. Hikari is a nice person, sociable, and Shinji... well..." She couldn't comment on just how her relationship with Shinji started to begin with. In a strange way, stating the details seemed like a betrayal to her love interest, "It was just luck."

"So what did you and Hikari talk about?"

"Oh nothing. Just about how it sucks that school is closed for a few more days, about it being boring, how we're doing. I though it was funny how she reacted when I told her I was living with Shinji." A small smile graced her lips as she imagined Hikari's expression must have been when she gasped from the shock. She hoped the class rep didn't have a heart attack.

Aiko laughed a child's laugh. "I can only wonder how you said it."

Mayumi sighed and ran a hand through her little sister's hair. "It's strange, you know? I'm living with him, but I don't really know too much about him. I... I really like him, but I don't really know how to talk to him; to get to know him better."

Aiko mimicked her sister's movements, playing with her older sister's sable hair, braiding the dark silk without care for permission. "You mad at him for not doing anything with you?"

"No, I understand why he couldn't."

"Oh? I'm not mad... I guess I'm... annoyed that he didn't... I don't know."

"What did you think he would do with you?"

Aiko brought her legs closer to her body, letting her feet hang from the edge of the couch. "I don't know. I just wanted to spend time with him."

Mayumi smirk past her tinge of jealousy. "I guess we both had unrealistic expectations."

"Unrealistic expectations? I like the way that sounds," she responded listlessly.

"You know, Aiko, if I didn't know better, I might think that you have a crush on my Shinji." She smiled as Aiko's spine straightened a bit. She usually didn't laugh or blush when she was teased by her older sister. Aiko fought or argued back, but when her sister really hit the heart of whatever was troubling her, she was almost paralyzed. "Do I have some competition, my dear Aiko?"

"I-It's not like that..."

She had her right where she wanted. "I'll have to be on guard when your around him from now on, huh?"

"Stop it. It's not like that... really..." She squired to get out of her sister's firm but gentle hold.

"I don't know. If you got older, I may have to start trying harder to look pretty around him."

She found her opening. "Not that it would make a difference."

Knowing that her sister lost, she decided to stop the bantering. "I'm just teasing, Squirt." She giggled as her sister squirmed in her arms, trying futilely to get out of her coming embrace. It always happened like this, these almost mother-daughter moments. Every time Mayumi had the upper hand in their teasing contests she would always end it with an abrupt hug, reaffirming their bond if and when the words got a bit out of hand. This time was no different.

Mayumi encircled her arms around her sister's small frame and held her as her younger sister gave up on fighting her. Eventually both settled down, letting their bodies rest upon one another. Mayumi pulled her sister upward, enough so that their heads were on level, and rested her head on top of her sister's shoulder. And with that, they continued.

"So... who was that blue-haired girl that came with you and Shinji? I've seen her before, but my memories all foggy right now..."

It took some time for her to recall the memories and when she finally found the memory she wrinkled her nose and smiled at the chance to tease back at her sister. "Oh, the pretty girl with the blue hair? Shinji said her name was Reiiii." She made sure to extend her name, building up to her sister's embarrassment. "I asked Shinji if he thought she was pretty too, cause I thought she was, and he didn't answer. He just got nervous and started stuttering something about being just friiieeeends. Don't you think that's a bit straaaange?"

Aiko yelped an "Ow!" as Mayumi tugged at her hair, not hard enough to be malicious, but hard enough to get her point across. Aiko knew she went a bit too far. She knew her sister was over-protective about her, so why wouldn't it be the same for her boyfriend? Then again, it would be more like jealousy in this case. "Didn't have to pull so hard..."

An uncomfortable silence soon followed afterward, one that was broken by the older Yamagishi minutes or hours later. "So... did Shinji say anything besides being just friends?"

Grateful for the chance to talk to her in the same night, Aiko replied, "I asked who she was and he said that she was an Eva pilot too. He said that he was always nervous around her when they first met. He didn't say how, but he said that they eventually became friends. Nothing I haven't really already said, you know?"

"Oh..." In truth, she felt better knowing that Shinji did not say anything that would lead her to believe something was going on between Rei and him, but she was still uneasy. There was still the matter as to how he actually became a friend to her. " Say Aiko..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. For the hair thing, I mean."

"I know, it's okay. I'm sorry too."

Mayumi picked up the blanket on the floor and draped it over both her and her sister. She placed her arms back around her sister's frame and held her closer to her body, almost as if she were to let go, she would leave her side forever. Aiko closed her eyes as Mayumi turned off the lamp on the small nightstand and pushed herself closer to her. And with that, the two sisters fell into a peaceful slumber.

--

"Shinji." Misato softly slapped her charges' face, making sure she wasn't too rough with the poor boy. "Shinji..." She started shaking his body gently at first, then rougher as he didn't respond with nothing more than a grunt. "Wakey-Wakey, Shinji!"

Finally waking from his private world, Shinji rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, raised his head to met the gaze of the woman who was nice enough to let him live with her, allowed him to eat her food and make her tea every morning, and responded with the first words he had in his mind for his lovely purple-haired guardian. "Hmm? Wha'd I miss?"

"Yesterday. Now get up. We may've been allowed some time off cause of the recent battles, but now it's time to get back to work!"

Work-- that's what it's him now. Work. It seemed too early in life to have something to call 'work'. Too early to have to get up in the morning and say hello to the people he comes across, and call it all, 'work'. But he went to school too. And, for the moment, he woke knowing his... girlfriend and her little sister were same in his home. Maybe adults exaggerated it when they said adulthood was tough?

He lifted himself off the futon and rubbed his eyes once again. He focused his eyes and stared into Misato's own, noticing how, in this light, her eyes looked almost as bright as Mayumi's own iridescent russet eyes. He couldn't help but stare a bit more than what would be normal. "Misato?"

"What? Is waking up next to me really that bad, Shinji? Your so mean." The false hurt in her voice still managed to prick his heart, bringing out the reaction Misato knew she would receive. "Too bad, cause I'll be doing it more often from now on."

"T-That's not what I meant... I... I just wanted to know what I was doing today?"

"Of course! Well, your going to have to do some synch tests, and Rei will be their too, so you won't have to be lonely. Those tests can last for hours, ya know?"

'Great.' He mentally commented dryly. "Hours you say..? Well, I guess I can't help it. So anything after that?"

Misato put her a finger to her lips in thought." Umm... well nothing for you. I have to oversee the last bit of construction," she grumbled under her breath, "I don't know why! I'm a tactician, damnit!" She sighed and placed a hand on top of Shinji's hair. "Anyway, I'll be busy all day today and tomorrow, but after synch tests, you have the rest of the day for yourself." Suddenly, she recalled how he had been oddly gallant with Rei after they recovered them after the angel fight. Carrying her like some little anime hero-- how cute. He seemed to be quite the accidental ladies' man. The thought made a motherly smile appeared on her lips. 'Maybe he can be a normal kid too, huh? One that pilots a war machine, but normal none the less..'

"That's good news, I guess."

"C'mon, we're already way late." She offered her hand and Shinji graciously accepted.

Shinji, now in his school uniform and duffle bag in hand, tip-toed his way out of the apartment with Misato. They didn't want to wake up the two sisters; they looked so serene in each other's arms, waking them was simply not a forgivable option. Before he left, Shinji looked back at the sight on the couch, Mayumi and Aiko holding each other in sisterly bliss, stating what they probably said to each other every time it didn't seem weird to them. He made sure the image was locked into the back of his mind; another reminder as to why he carried the weight of the Evangelion on his back and the angels on his shoulders.

"C'mon we're late!"

With a final look, he smiled and closed the door.

--

**You know, that could also mean your just a perverted man. Watching two sisters sleep together. Your a damn pervert, you know that?**

**I can't admit that the thoughts didn't cross my mind later on, but it's the truth. You two kept me going.**

**Shut-up..! ...Do you... really mean that? Back then, I swear we were nothing more than a burden to you. Always doing something to make you exhausted and tired.**

**You just did that a few minutes ago.**

**Damn pervert! Just go on with it.**

**Mayumi...**

**I know, I know. Just... go on.**

--

"So, my pocket-sized savior, what have you been up too?"

Shinji understood why Aiko hated it when Mayumi talked about her height. He wasn't short, but in comparison to Misato, he really was feeling miniscule at the time. "Nothing. Just the NERV stuff, and sleeping, I guess." He sighed as he tried his best to keep the juices in his stomach from spilling out of his mouth. It was doubtful that he would ever get use to his guardian's driving.

"Feeling uneasy? Here." Misato opened a compartment on Shinji's side and took out a pair of sunglasses. "If you don't see everything move as fast, you'll get use to it."

It made sense. The few times Shinji saw Misato drive she was always wearing her sunglasses, thought it was doubtful she wore them for the reason he was just handed a pair. He placed them on and rested his head on the leather cushion of his seat and looked at the slightly darkened road and buildings as they blurred by like fading memories.

"Hey, you look kinda cute with those on."

Shinji looked at her as she looked at him, disregarding the road ahead of her, but obviously knowing what she was doing; and he blushed. This time, unlike all the others, there was no hint of her teasing him. That just made it all the more embarrassing.

"Umm... thanks..." He tried his best to sink further into his seat.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. It wasn't until they had cleared the tollgates, rode down the monorail, and were walking inside of he Geofront that they even looked at one another, at which Misato only smiled and looked back at the road ahead. Once inside of NERV HQ, they parted ways.

--

"Hello, Ikari."

The almost ghostly voice behind him nearly sent him into panic mode, had he not recognized it afterwards that is. He looked back to find Ayanami already in her plug suit. He had seen her before, but the few times he had gotten a good look was when she was in danger, so this time he saw the skintight material without the fear of her dying. Needless to say, he blushed. Not wanting to give himself away, and not wanting to be rude, he kept his eyes to hers and greeted her as she kept pace with him while he walked towards the Eva Cages.

"I told you, call me Shinji, Rei." He said her own name to get his point across. Hopefully she would cut the formalities, it just added to his nervousness. "So how've you been? You feeling better after a few days off?"

"I am feeling well. And you?"

"I could have used more sleep, but I'm okay, I guess."

Rei nodded and looked forward as if he was not even walking with her. The only thing that made him sure that she was aware of his presence was how she managed to keep in perfect synchronization with his footsteps. He looked forward and sighed. He'd probably never get completely comfortable around her, but at least he knew she didn't hate him, especially after the incident in her apartment.

He wasn't particularly fond of starting conversations, but around Rei, he felt that he had too. But, even when he shared moments of friendship with the breathing enigma, he didn't know what to talk about with her. All he was sure of was that she lived in a run-down neighborhood, didn't lock her door, missed school a lot, and is selective about who she speaks to. No one at school, when he managed to go, noticed or really cared that she was gone. Not even an idle concern that he might have heard in the hallway. It left a strange feeling inside of him. To some degree, she was like him-- he didn't like that.

He had said to her that they should try and be friends-- he had no intention of going back on his word. 'What's there to talk about with her though? I think talking about her personal life would be too early...'

"Shinji?"

Snapping out of his daze, he replied, "Hmm? W-What is it?"

"We are here."

He felt like an idiot for dazing out while walking, but there was nothing he could do about it now. It would be awhile before he ever got used to talking to her-- even being around her. Despite his awkwardness around her, he would still protect her on the battlefield, fully aware that it might call for him to disobey Misato's orders; but he didn't care. She was another reason that he fought against the angels. The world had been cruel to him as far as he could remember; he didn't owe it anything. So he had to do everything he could possibly do to protect the women in his life. The very thought made Shinji's fists clutch and relax unconsciously.

This action caught Rei's attention. "Are you feeling well, Shinji?"

Once again snapping out of his daze, he replied with no true embarrassment. He smiled and took gentle hold of her wrist. "Let's go. We're gonna be late."

Rei nodded and followed his lead, confused at the sudden change in attitude, but not disliking the warmth from the contact.

--

Maya Ibuki stood next to her mentor, Ritsuko Akagi, absorbing the quickness and absolute fluidness of how she carried out her tasks. It was amazing how efficient she was with her work. Her fingers moved with grace over the keys on her laptop; her eyes wandered from the two pilots in the mock entry plugs to the glowing screen in front of her. It was a level that Maya had tried her best to meet, succeeding in certain aspects and failing in others.

Today was different. Maya didn't try her best to reach the level of her mentor. No, today was different. Her mentor seemed a bit edgy every time she looked up at the main monitor; every time her gaze met Shinji's closed eyes. She wasn't nervous on the surface, but her darting eyes spoke volumes to Maya. It wasn't something that anyone could just pick up, but she had worked under Dr. Akagi for some time now.

The young logistics officer looked up from her workstation and at the closed, concentrated eyes of the young Shinji Ikari. Something that involved him was bothering Ritsuko. From what little she knew of the boy, she knew that it was probably not anything serious, but it was something that bothered her false blonde mentor.

He seemed like the shy and quiet type; which made the gossip around the NERV facility all the more unexpected to her. The young Ikari had developed quite the intimate relationship with the girl who had climbed inside of Unit-01, Mayumi Yamagishi. He didn't seem like the type that would have a girlfriend so early in life, more like the type that would have more female friends than intimate relationships. But then again, when he first arrived at NERV, he had shown some bravado in battle-- He obviously had bottled rage within his calm exterior. Maybe it was that incredibly well-hidden valiance that made the comely girl fall for the meek boy. Kinda cute when you really think about it.

Maya sighed and opened communications as Ritsuko simply nodded in her direction. "Times up. You two can go now." She turned away from the monitor, making sure that the young boy did not notice she was studying him for the last part of the three hour synch tests. A lot of good that did. Before communications were closed, she heard her name being called by the same boy she tried to avoid.

"M-Ms. Ibuki?"

Maya looked at the monitor with genuine curiosity. "What is it?" She tried to shake off the subtle glance her mentor gave her.

"M... Misato told me that... a few people got injured during the battle where I had to use that rifle-- including you... I just wanted too... um... I'm sorry..."

She looked down to her left arm. She had her left arm bandaged up from her elbow all the way up to her shoulder. He must have noticed that she was staring at him and managed to sneak a very subtle look back. While she understood why he would be concerned with her safety, even if only as a fleeting indulgence of conversation, why was he apologizing for something he couldn't possibly do something about?

"I'm flattered over your concerned for me," Her smile must have brought on the blush of the Third Child," but I really don't know why your apologizing to me. You did your best, it just happened to be some bad luck within good luck. We won, didn't we?"

"Y-Yeah... but," Shinji mumbled his words until he found his mind sorted out," I could have done something to stop it... maybe if I hadn't dodged it..."

Maya's opinion of the young boy changed the moment he mentioned how he would rather have a particle beam shred him than letting her take a few pieces of shrapnel in her arm. NERV's little Eva prodigy regretting doing a job well done, because she got hurt? Strange to say the least. By all means, he could push his weight around and have a large ego to boot. He was a pilot, after all. Yet he was so humble and, from what little she could tell, considerate. Now she was certain as to how the cute, sable-haired girl could develop a crush for him.

"Oh... don't worry about it. Just some glass, it hardly bled! It's probably just bandaged just in case, you know..." She felt her cheeks tinge lightly from embarrassment. It made her want to laugh; she was acting like a schoolgirl again! "And don't worry about Hyuuga! He got a little bit worse than me, but he's only away from work because he's lazy!"

'Great... more than one person got hurt.. it's bad enough she did..'. "Umm... well... thanks, I'll try harder next time..."

Maya looked down as the image of Mayumi climbing out of Shinji's entry plug hit the back of her mind. The fright in her eyes merely from the experience inside the Eva, and then watching Katsuragi chew Shinji out for doing the right thing, flashed across her mind. He shouldn't have to be sorry for doing the right and honorable thing.

She raised her head and caught him before he exited the mock entry plug. "Hey, Shinji... do me a favor, will ya? Don't say sorry when you've done the right thing, alright?"

"Y-Yes, Ms. Ibuki."

Maya could only suppress a small laugh when Shinji's cheeks rose to a dull red for no apparent reason. Yes, Maya Ibuki definitely knew why the girl fell for the young Ikari; he was so unlike his father. That in itself was something to be very proud of. "You can call me Maya, Mr. Ikari."

--

**What? Don't tell me your insecure even with her. She's an adult.**

**A good-looking one at that.**

**You got me there.**

**Shut-up! I swear your growing up to be like Mr. Kaji. You've even got the stubble! All your missing is the ponytail.**

**Well, I can't say he hasn't affected me in some ways. Can't say I'm not working on the hair either. Heh. But again, I don't think of her like that. I think of her more as... like an older sister.**

**You say that about every one of our friends. Like some over-extended family.**

**I guess your right. But it feels that way. Like we're all bonded on some deeper level than just friends. Especially with you...**

**S... S-Shinji. Stop it. I hate it when you talk to me like that. Just continue, please?**

--

Shinji turned on the faucet inside of the small shower stall and let the waters cleanse his body of the dried LCL. Even though it was just the afternoon, it felt like a long day of "work". Slightly over three hours, or so he was informed, and he was looking forward to laying down and do nothing for the rest of the day. But Shinji knew he wouldn't, after all, he wasn't that tired anymore. No; he rested long enough.

Maybe if Aiko was insistent, he'd do something she wanted to do. The little runt grew on her; apparently Mayumi's nicknames for her sister did as well. It was apparent that she had taken a liking to him, for reasons unknown to him, at least. She was... well, Shinji could not place a label on his and her relationship; it was far too hard to anyway. His thoughts continued to circle in his mind and fall like the drops of water that landed on top of his head, until he finally concluded his ponderings about the most important people, the most important women, in his life and reached his own.

'How long has it been... since I've regretted being alive? I can hardly remember now.' Shinji cast his eyes downward onto the drain that took the water and the now remoistened LCL from his hair and eyelids. 'I... I still don't see too much ahead of me. It's pointless for me... but they're counting on me... and...' his right fist clenched tightly in front of his face, 'I musn't run away... I musn't run away... even if it hurts... even if I have no reason to be...' His mind went back towards the image he burned into the back of his mind. Mayumi and Aiko slept soundly, secure, and serenely because he gave them that. And they gave him a reason, even if, in the back of his mind, it may be only an excuse to live. He would return that to them a thousand fold. 'Yeah... besides... what else am I gonna do?'

As the rivulets fell from his damp head, Shinji lifted his head, sent the flowing waters from his eyes down onto the tiled floor, and accepted all the remaining waters onto his chest and shoulders. He lifted his left arm, the arm that first tasted the pain that the Eva allowed him to feel in places other than his heart, and closed his fingers.

As he turned off the faucet and dried himself off before dressing and leaving the room, he felt it strange that he always questioned and thought when he showering or taking a bath. Maybe Misato was right; a good bath cleans the body and soul.

--

Shinji and Rei walked down the main corridors in the direction of the NERV monorails that would lead them outside of the geofront. Shinji had finished taking a shower and was ready to return home after a very boring morning of synch tests. That was his plan, until he found Rei on his way to the monorails. Not wanting to really let her walk home alone, despite the fact she probably did it very often and the constant surveillances of Section II, he joined her and asked if he could walk her home.

He was afraid that she thought he was insinuating more than what he meant, since she paused and seemed to stare at him for a short eternity, but she accepted his offer with no protest and some minor confusion at the gesture.

"That was... award." Shinji said, trying to break the iceberg before it formed from it's shallow depths.

"What was?"

"When I talked to Ms. Ibuki. During the Synch test, I mean."

"Why was that awkward?"

"I... I guess I'm just not use to talking to people that I don't really know. I'm usually not one to start any conversations, so I get nervous a lot."

"I see."

While the conversation didn't really go anywhere, he had made some progress when it came to talking to Rei-- she responded and he hardly faltered when returning the dialogue. And best of all, Rei did not seem mad at him from the incident at her apartment. That was one image burned into his mind that was bittersweet at it's very core. The thought of her pale beauty made him fluster, causing him to mentally scold himself and feel a shallow marsh of guilt rising.

"Are you unwell, Shinji?"

"Wha-- No, no! I was just... umm..." So much for progress. "It's nothing." He felt the familiar lump in his throat and butterflies in his stomach return. Shinji was never good at talking with the opposite sex, but he hadn't felt this uneasy in a long time. Like returning to day puberty hit.

"I see."

"Umm... so what are you going to do this afternoon?" He wasn't too sure what Rei did to occupy her time while she wasn't inside of NERV Headquarters. She didn't seem like the girl that would do... girl stuff. As weird as the thought felt inside of his mind, it seemed true. She wasn't very social, since she didn't talk to anyone when she was at school, but trying to figure her out wasn't going to be easy. She was like a painting. Aesthetically beautiful, but, like the meaning behind any good painting, enigmatic, almost to the point of frustration. Shinji only wondered if she would ever allow him to figure out the mystery behind the art.

As the day got brighter, Shinji found himself more and more in the shadows of the cramp, extremely akin, buildings. The only things distinguishing certain buildings was the amount of damage done to the concrete which made it's walls. Ayanami's building, Shinji mentally noted and memorized, had a large, thin crack on it's west side. The crevice wasn't especially dangerous looking, but it still vexed Shinji how Ayanami could live in such a risky looking building. The other thing that got Shinji's attention was how it didn't even faze her. Rei didn't seem to care, maybe even notice, how dilapidated her building was. It bothered him.

"Say, Rei... I was wondering..."

"Yes?"

"Why do you live in such a fusty place? I know that it's farther from NERV than Misato's apartment complex... and it can't be safe around here. The buildings around here all have some sort of damage..." Shinji pointed towards one of the many buildings in the row of similar structures, "That one! I can even see wood beneath the concrete!"

"That is true, but that is not my building."

"I know. I'm just... I'm just concerned, I guess. I'm sorry." He bowed his head and looked at his shoes as they neared her building.

Rei's pace slowed down ever so slightly.

Such a strange concept, his concern. It did not benefit him to have worry over her, for whatever reason it may be, so why did he do it? Why did he tie himself down with concern over such insignificant things? As far as she could recall, she lived inside the small one bedroom apartment, not truly caring over the condition of the building as long as it stood. The smell of the area was of no concern. It was not pungent enough to cling to her uniform's fabric, so it was not problem. So why did he worry? She was replaceable, after all.

"Why have you developed concern over my safety?"

As much as he felt for her, Shinji had to admit she was either unused to having others show care towards her, a condition he could have related to until recently, or she was a little dense. Shinji surmised that it was the first.

"That's a dumb question." Shinji looked down at his shoes, watching how they hit the cracked concrete with slight difficulty in finding truly flat surface, and said, "Friends worry about each other. Why wouldn't I have some concern?"

As they arrived to her apartment building, Rei could only look forward at her approaching door with no interest.

Yet another feeling she could not identify. Her new friend, it seemed, had a knack for confusing her. It was perplexing trying to analyze her own emotions; hard to place how Shinji's token care affected her. Like a riddle with an answer that lies in a conundrum. One thing was for certain though. Her face seemed to warm ever so slightly. She did not feel ill, and the feeling was not unpleasant, so what could it be?

Rei looked at her apartment with somewhat different eyes now. She did not feel like entering it's damp embrace, but what could she do? It was her only home. "I... Thank you, Shinji." Those words of gratitude felt strange on her lips, but not entirely wrong.

How could they be?

"Oh, it's nothing, really." Shinji ran a hand down the back of his head, rubbing his hair, hoping that it would somehow prevent the imminent blush. 'Can't I go one day without blushing like some sort of idiot?' "Well... I guess I'll see you next time."

"May I ask you something?"

"Of course you can."

For some reason unbeknownst to her, she did not feel like parting ways with her fellow pilot, her first and therefore best friend. Something in the back of her mind, a small nagging was trying to tell her something, to do something that she could not appropriately express. But what did she feel? Identifying the emotion as the same thing she was accustomed to, loneliness, she wanted to ask him to stay. To join her later at NERV for her other synchs tests, if only to wait for her so they could walk to her home, even his if he preferred. But there would be no point in it. Shinji did not have a reason to be around her, nor did she have a real reason to be around him. Nothing more than a passing desire to be near someone. It would leave soon. She has done it all alone before, and she would do so again.

She paused, and with those unwavering eyes back, she said, "Never mind. I will ask some other time."

"Oh... well okay. I'll see you tomorrow... I think."

Rei nodded and entered her apartment, feeling the heat from her face leave in the cold apartment.

--

**Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess that could give off the wrong message. Forgive me for that, Love, I was a child.**

**Can it. I know what must have been going through your mind.**

**How much more beautiful I found you; more than any other woman I have and will ever know?**

**... I-I'm not really that... Thank you, Shinji.**

--

She was drowsy. After sleeping so long in her sister's arms, she woke up uncomfortably. Not that her sister's embrace wasn't a good thing, it was just that she shifted a lot during her slumber, so naturally being constrained bothered her. The contradiction of her desires always made her laugh.

Aiko got out of her sister's arms and looked back at her sleeping face. How she always slept in, when she could, was amazing. She was always the first to wake up in the morning at their house, but that must have been because she had too. For some reason, Aiko felt like waking her up for no other reason than the one that she just rationalized in her own mind.

Rather than bothering Mayumi, Aiko left her sister's side and stepped into Shinji's room and took out her clothes from his closet. Though she didn't ask Shinji if she could put her stuff in there, he never said no, and he probably wouldn't be upset. She was far too cute, and he was too much of a sweetheart to get angry at her. So Aiko laid out her clothes on top of his bed and walked towards the bathroom to prepare for the day. After her moderately short shower, she walked out of the bathroom and got dressed. Another day without school. It was definitely going to be a good day.

It wasn't a surprise. Mayumi was sprawled all over the couch; a leg on the top, a leg dangling off the edge, her arms the same way as her legs, and her hair all over the place-- except for the part that she braided. Aiko suppressed a giggle at the not-so-common sight and sat down in front of the television, skimming through the channels. She was use to watching what she wanted, even if she was too young for most of it. But who was gonna stop her? Mayumi didn't watch too much TV, and her mother didn't monitor what she watched. She could have easily watched some of the more raunchy movies, but, despite having any real talks with her mother about the subject, she felt that her mother trusted her-- and she would not betray that unspoken agreement.

After about thirty minutes of some foreign and national comedies-- she loved to laugh after all --Aiko stopped from her set view and felt her heart race when she heard the doorbell ring. A large grin appeared on her youthful face when she realized who it must have been. "Finally!" Getting away from the TV screen in front of her, Aiko rushed to the door as it swung open and leapt into his arms.

Shinji, sufficed to say, was caught off guard by the blur of raven, white, and shell-pink of his assailant. He tumbled back, but caught his balance against the wall behind him. Before he tried to fight back against the possible assassin or, kami forbid, pedophile, he looked down to see Aiko's smiling face. He sighed in relief and rubbed her hair, making sure it was her, and smirked back as she let go and led him inside his own home.

"Hey, Aiko."

"Hiya, Shinji!" She smirked, still holding onto his right arm. "Hey! Wanna see something funny?"

Shinji could only wonder what was running in her adolescent mind as she lead him towards the living room. It was not until he realized who it was that was sprawled across the couch that he truly meant what Aiko meant by 'funny'. He tried his best to suppress the laugh inside of his throat. First a mild cough, but he eventually could not hold down his laughter, and compromised with himself to let out a polite chuckle.

Whether she was just tired of sleeping, or Shinji's chuckle was enough to wake her from her slumber, Mayumi woke up and blinked in the confusion that accompanied after-sleep. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Mayumi looked to the sound of her laughing sister and, to her dread, to the quieter laugh. Her eyes went wide when she realized how she woke up and blushed immediately before raising the blanket over her head.

"S-Shinji!" She screamed underneath her blanket. "Ahh..! I'm sorry! I-I... I..!" She was completely lost as to what to say. Desperately she searched for words that would let her escape the embarrassment of being seen so awkwardly, but could only find her sister in mid-chortle. "AIKO! I'll kill you, you little brat!"

Aiko let go of Shinji's arm and fell on the floor laughing.

Shinji, as out of character as it may have seemed, simply continued to chuckle while looking down at his empty left. It felt... right. Felt right laughing with those two, even if it would later seem a bit too much, especially since it was about 'her'. But he knew that Mayumi probably wouldn't leave the couch with his eyes on her; and he didn't want to be rude, after all. So the young Ikari rubbed the back of his head and apologized, still laughing loud enough for her to notice, and went into his room to lay down for a few minutes.

Aiko fell out of her fit of laughter and noticed the missing presence. "Huh..? He got away. Damn." Aiko turned her head towards the lifted blanket and grinned like an idiot. "How you feeling Mayuuuummiii? Nice time for you to be taking a nap, huh? Morning hair can be a drag, I know, but that's probably why I make myself pretty in the morning, the time most people wake up!"

Once Mayumi heard his door slide close, she threw the blanket off of her and charged at the already running sister. Both of them probably would never live this down. She was scarred for life! Her love interest, her boyfriend, saw her sprawled all over the couch, probably drooling or something, and she had to live knowing that that was the impression he would have in his mind for some time; and with her luck, for all time. Aiko would suffer the full extent of her wrath.

"You little twerp! Stand still; this'll only make you prettier!"

"That's impossible! I'm already sooo perfect!" She stuck out her tongue before dodging her sister's grasp and rolling behind the couch. "Unlike your sloppy self!"

"Wha'd you say!"

"You heard me, witch hair!"

It wasn't until Aiko said something about her hair a second time that Mayumi took an offense to her focused teasing. One of the bad things about having Mayumi's long hair was morning, uncombed hair. That just made her angrier-- Shinji had seen her morning hair-- her sable serpents! She could even hear a muffled laugh from somewhere in the hallway-- he was still laughing!

"Oohhh... your going to pay, Midget!"

And so the day went on like that, in their form of sisterly bonding and ankle biting.

It was not until mid-afternoon, when both Mayumi and Aiko had stopped fighting, that Shinji peeked outside of his door, worried that they might have gotten a bit rougher than they had planned to, only to find the sisters on the floor in the living room. Aiko's snoring head on her sister's lap. Shinji only smiled and wondered how they could sleep so long, only to take back his question. He was not one to ridicule people for excessive sleeping. It seemed to be the only thing he was better at than piloting the Evangelion.

--

**Anyway. After all of that, it took about a week until your Mother came by to get you two. She's quite gorgeous for a woman her age. If I was only a few years older, I wouldn't mind trying to see what's underneath those stock--**

**That is not funny, Ikari.**

**You know the saying, "Like mother like daughter"?**

**Shinji. Don't push me. I'll cut you.**

**Hehe... Anyways...**

--

"Door bell! Door bell!" Aiko rushed to the door and opened it to reveal, for the first time in a weeks, her mother. "Mamma!"

On the other side of the door frame stood a rather statuesque, older woman in a business suit. Though her facial appearance was clearly Japanese, her skin hue and height betrayed the assumption of a singular ethnicity. She was a darker, the color of an indigenous woman. Her hair was long, but was kept neat in a chignon and though dark, her hair was not as dark as her first born daughter's sable hair nor as dark as her second daughter's raven hair. A sign that her beauty was near it's climax.

Her cool lips and bay eyes showed no trace of emotion, until she gazed down from her thin glasses onto her second-born. She smiled and bent down at her knees and hugged her long missed daughter. "Aiko! I've missed you, Baby! How've you been?"

"I've been good!" Her smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown. "And stop calling me that! I'm not that short!"

"I see your the same as always. Where's your big sister?"

"Oh, she went out with Shinji to get some stuff for dinner. They should be back soon."

The older woman let go of her daughter and stood in the doorway, wondering whether it would be proper to enter the apartment. Though her daughters were currently housed there, it would be rude to walk in without the invitation from the held of the household. "Say, Aiko. Where's Miss Katsuragi?"

"She's at NERV right now. Misato said that she would be all night, so she sent Shinji to go get some food, and Mayumi invited herself." Aiko walked inside and looked over her shoulder. "It's okay, just take off your shoes."

"I know proper manners, and that's why I can't. Miss Katsuragi wouldn't--"

"Misato. She's not all hung up on things like that. Besides, I'm here. And while everyone else is away, I'm in charge!" She placed her small fists onto her developing hips and pouted. "So lighten up."

Normally the mother Yamagishi would scold her daughter for being so abrupt with her lack of respect, but it had been so long since she had seen her precious child, she could not utter a word in protest. So she slip off her heels and walked inside of the apartment with graceful caution. She sat on the large couch on which her daughter had sat upon without care. She crossed her legs, raising the hem of her skirt, and sighed.

It was awkward. She was so young when she had Mayumi, and barely proper age to have children when she was pregnant with Aiko, so she never really felt confident about the way she raised her children. Mayumi was... well she was never really too sure about her first. Mayumi was distant from her, her own mother, but she couldn't blame her. She was afraid the first time, unsure of how to raise a human life since her own was rather difficult. Yeah, living and surviving the Second-Impact will do that to you. She couldn't blame Mayumi, and she never would, for disliking her. Which daughter never felt ill will towards their mothers at some point in their lives? But it still hurt. She loved her daughter, the manifestation of the love she and her first lover felt for one-another, but she could never bring herself to talk to her own daughter-- and she doubted she ever would.

Mayumi was fourteen, but she might as well have been another grown woman with a personal vendetta against her. Talking to her was out of the question. Every time she did, Mayumi would walk away or simple listen with glossed over eyes and feigned interest. Every time she'd given her a kind gesture, or some extra spending money when she had some, she would refuse or accept with false gratitude. And she, in her motherly weakness, if it could even be considered that, would never call her on it. She'd never raise a discipling hand or a stern word to her, not unless it was more than deserved. She spoiled her, that was for sure, but it was her fault, the mother's fault, that she grew up that way. Hopefully, it wasn't too late to pass on the knowledge and advise she had for the next generation. This generation of enigmatic wars and mercenary assassinations.

Aiko turned on the television. "Baby, you know your too young for that kind of violence," she said endearingly, "turn it to something else."

"But it's funny! And I'm not that little! I can handle a little blood."

"Aiko..."

"Don't worry, Mom. I've seen worse."

"Oh, really? What could possibly worse than watching a man lose 'both his weapons'?"

"Watching the fights Shinji's in!"

"What?" Taini was well aware of the young Ikari's position in the NERV organization. He was a pilot and, if the rumors served to be true, an extremely talented one at that. Though "The First Child" had more training and prep, he was apparently a natural born pilot-- one that was a bit too chivalrous in a fight, apparently. Through the thinning NERV grapevine, she heard that Shinji Ikari, the son of the Supreme Commander of NERV, piloted the Evangelion after seeing the other, injured pilot. Children, and this was true even in her school years, are ignorantly attentive to the ones they like. Puppy love in this age is dangerous. Maybe that's what made the boy pilot the Eva? She knew she wouldn't have piloted it for anyone, aside from own her children. A simple crush from seeing an injured girl. How naively valiant. "Aiko, that's giant machines fighting. It's oil, steel, and bolts flying in the air. Not blood and flesh."

"Not from what I saw."

"What do you mean," she asked suspiciously,"'not from what I saw'?"

"When I was in the... the.. the Command Center! I saw Shinji inside of his robot. When I saw Shinji fight, there was a lot of blood! Everywhere!"

"Yeah, that was from the 'Angel' that he killed."

"Well, yeah. But his Eva also got hurt. So it can't be all machine-- since it bled. And Miss Ayanami's too!"

"It bled? It must have lost some oil or some sort of battery leakage. It was probably because it was at night. It coul--"

"It was! Tons of it!" Aiko's enthusiasm over the subject made her mother all the more unsure and confused; there was a fine line between fuel and blood, after all. Even if she was in the organization, when it came to the Evas, there was tremendous amounts of secrecy. It made sense in a way. She was merely the supervisor of the reconstruction crew. So it made sense that she wouldn't be too informed about the mechanical behemoths. But blood? That surely would have leaked it's way down the grapevine.

It was all too much to ponder at once. She lifted the hem of her stockings and allowed herself to rest more comfortably on the couch, but not too much. "Well. Anyways... where's your guardian?"

"Oh. Shinji's my guardian. Remember?"

"Shinji? The pilot of the Evangelion?"

"Yup!" Her smile was too exuberant for there to be no underlying reason for it.

"What's a fourteen year old doing being your care-taker!"

"Sheesh, Mom. Lighten up. He's mature enough."

"Mature enough? But he's your guardian; why would he be the same age as your sister!"

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"NERV wouldn't give temporary legal custody of you to some fourteen year old! That's absurd!"

"You were probably too busy at work to notice that the guardian's name was the same as the fourteen year old pilot of the big robot."

"But they wou--" Her words were interrupted when the doorknob clicked and turned. There was no knock, so it could only be Miss Katsuragi or her daughter and this 'Shinji'. Softly, the door opened to reveal her daughter, smiling and laughing politely-- something she rarely ever sees with her time worn eyes. It brought a smile to the mother Yamagishi's eyes. "Hello, Mayumi."

Though her expression didn't grow darker, it did somber a bit; a sudden prick at Taini's heart. "Hey, Mom."

Shinji's head poked out from the hallway and looked towards where Mayumi was looking. To his surprise, it appeared to be an older, more sophisticated version of the girl that stood next to him. "M-Mayumi?" Realizing that he made a mistake in his mental lapse, he quickly turned his phrase. "...'s mother?"

At first glance, the boy was a slender teenager of average appearances, cute enough to attract her daughter's attention, but not nearly enough to warrant anything special. But something about him made her eyes wander over him. Something nostalgic, something enough to keep her eyes centered around his own. Something that made the pace of her heart quicken.

Quickly noticing the stares both were getting from the younger women in the room, Shinji lowered his eyes and Taini did the same. She, as an adult, spoke first, polite and with a normal heart rate. "Mr. Ikari, I presume."

"M-Mr. Ikari... you can call me Shinji. Your Mrs. Yamagishi, right?"

"Yes and no. It's Miss Yamagishi. I know this is a strange question... but are you Aiko's legal guardian."

"W-Well, Yes. I am. I mean... temporary guardian..."

"That's... strange. Miss Katsuragi didn't mention that you were this young. Or that you were the Evangelion's pilot." The older woman placed a hand on her hip and examined him from head to toe. "I just thought it was a coincidence..."

"I know, I didn't quite believe it either." He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "But I didn't mind. I didn't exactly have to do much."

"Strange... well in any case, thank you. Shinji." Her eyes were almost the same color as Mayumi's; he was force to note. "Starting today, you don't have to trouble yourself with my daughters, I'll be taking them home now."

"Oh? Is the reconstruction finally done?"

"Yes," she sighed, "it's finally done, after some odd-weeks, it's finally done. I've already informed Miss Katsuragi about this, but I was expecting her to be here..."

"She's usually at work until the sun goes down. Unless it's a day off, then she's not up at all." How stupid of him, he thought.

The eldest Yamagishi chuckle at the boy's attempt at humor and put out her hand. Shinji nervously stuck out his own hand and shook hers', somehow feeling something nostalgic, like a recent, but forgotten memory. The feeling was mutual. The hand-shake lasted longer than it should have, drawing the attention of the oldest daughter. Her facial expression was disapproving and somehow threatened.

"Umm... h-have we met before, Miss Yamagishi?"

"... Huh? I... I don't recall ever meeting before today. But I do feel something... strange."

"Strange... me too."

There gaze met with the intention of discovering the strange sense that was brought on by the other. A meeting of navy blue and deep bay. A look that made Aiko all the more confused and Mayumi fluster.

"... I... I'll be back later, maybe when Miss Katsuragi returns, we'll have dinner-- to thank you for your hospitality."

"S-sure..."

Aiko, missing the meaning of the intense gaze, jumps in-between the two. "I'll go get my stuff. C'mon, Mayumi, help me!"

"... Coming."

And with that, Shinji was left alone with the mother of his girlfriend, who by all means was unaware of what has happened between him and her daughters, wondering what he did to deserve what must be coming next. Maybe an angel with even larger pikes and even smellier gases spouting from it's body? Maybe Mayumi would come out nude too, and he'd die from embarrassment and a massive hemorrhage in his nose. Maybe he'll be toss from a building and catch his eyelid on a hanging nail. Sure sounded a lot more tempting at the moment.

"So..."

"There's no need for the small talk, Mr. Ikari, I know it must be awkward talking with an older woman like myself. I know that I was always nervous when I talked to my elders, in fact, I haven't changed too much in the time between adolescence and now." She said with a smile, moving her hand through the strand of silk that hung above her ear.

"Well, I, umm..." he fumbled with the words he wished to speak, only coming out with jumbled phrases. "Y-You don't seem like an older woman..." The surprised look in her bay eyes flustered the young boy. "I'm not saying that your too young to have two daughters..! I just... ugh.. umm.. it's just... your pretty?" Damn he was an idiot.

Though it took awhile for the older woman to process and decipher what was just told to her, she picked up the compliment and smiled. It wasn't everyday she met a respectful male. Not when she had to work in a nearly all male reconstruction team. Not everyone there was a pig, but enough to be angry at the male gender. And to find a young male that was courteous, though she had to admit he was a bit too timid, was quite a find. He even made her feel young again. How cute.

"Thank you, Mr. Ikari. I can see you've had quite the upbringing."

"Well... I've lived with my aunt and uncle for the most part. They're old-fashioned, but never really did anything to influence me. B-But thank you anyway." His timid thanks did little to stop her gaze from roaming over him. It was nerve-wrenching being inspected so utterly and completely. The only thing he could do was to put his hands in his pockets and try not to sweat under her watchful eyes, no matter how friendly and expecting they were. "So... umm...--"

"I hear your quite the pilot." She stated, not questioned.

"Well... umm. It's nothing really."

"Mom. We're ready to go." She had once again saved his life. She was an angel; those winged creatures of dying beliefs and yore. She was kami incarnate. Saved from awkwardness. He'd have to repay her, gladly, once again.

"It seems we'll have to talk some other time." Taini bowed lightly at her waist.

"Bye-bye! Miss ya already!" She ran over and hugged him far too tightly.

"G-Goodbye, Shinji." She did the same, though to a much lighter extent.

Baggage in tow, the two sister's say their farewell to their friend. But once both sisters had left to place their luggage in their mother's car, the awkward moment returned, the one that most young boys faced once in their life and twice for Shinji; he was left alone with the mother of his girlfriend. At least it wasn't the father, he thought. But how many times did these omnipotent gods of shame and embarrassment have to bend his over before they sated their hunger? How many times will he feel awkward and mortified before it was over? They certainly must have met their weekly quota.

"Ms. Yamagishi? I-Is there something you need?"

"... It's nothing. Thank you for caring for Aiko-- and for letting Mayumi stay while our house was being repaired," she bowed slightly, making Shinji slightly taller than the ebony-haired woman, "I can't thank you enough." Before the young Ikari could voice his dismissal of the gratitude, she walked through the doorway. "Good day."

He was left to deal with an empty house once again.

--

Days pass and life goes on. School is opened within the week that Mayumi and Aiko left his home, so he wasn't completely bored. Once he reentered school, it had become apparent that things wouldn't be exactly the same. Somehow the word got around that there was some level of intimacy going on between the Shinji Ikari and Mayumi Yamagishi. Normally, it wouldn't matter much if two people became girlfriend and boyfriend, it would be limited to the circle of friends and casual acquaintances around the two people, but it was different in this situation. It was the pilot of a giant biomechanical war-machine going out with the pretty new girl. Sufficient to say, gossip was at an all time high.

But gossip was usually twisted and contorted for it's original form. If one were to listen to all the gossip about the new girl, she'd be three months pregnant with Ikari's love child. But unbeknownst to her, Ikari would also be in an affair with her younger sister, Aiko. This was only a small sample, of course. Most people this young didn't focused on the really entertaining, and feasible, truth.

As most young girls with wildly passionate imaginations of undying love and perpetual bliss with their long-haired knight in shining armor that would take them away from their worldly, tedious pressures of schoolwork and chores, allegations about love at first sight between Mayumi and Shinji were among the most popular idea; that he rode up on his Eva and braved the angel that wished her harm. It was embarrassing for both of them to face such stories, especially considering the truth behind the warped seeing glass. While he did save Mayumi from certain death, he did not so out of passion, nor from his own kindness, he did so because of her compassion towards him. He was no caballero, no cavalier, he insisted. Even still, he could not say that he saved her simply "because it was his job". Such lies would hurt both him and her.

Shinji stayed quite, choosing to relax on the verdant hills behind the school. He enjoyed the solitude those hills brought. The cool wind moving across the trees and his hair made the area all the more tranquil, despite the noise from the school itself. Occasionally, Touji and Kensuke would join him when the basketball court was too full to enjoy a good game. Kensuke only brought up the subject of his relationship with Mayumi once, to his despair, but stopped once he fed him enough information for him to tire and return to his obsession with anything military. Touji wouldn't say too much. He'd stay quite about everything that dealt with Mayumi, except when the curiosity of her whereabouts arose.

Apparently, the rumors had allowed the sable-haired girl to gain a foothold when it came to talking with the other girls in the class. With Hikari's assistance, both the Yamagishi sisters had developed friendships with someone other than the pilot of Unit-01 and herself. Though it saddened him to not be able to talk to them as much as he would like to, he was grateful that he had done something right. Something for the girls who had saved him from the loneliness he would have undoubtedly had to face. Yeah, it was a good thing.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that he had his first visitor, other than Touji and Kensuke. To his surprise, it was not Aiko or Mayumi, but Hikari. The raven, pigtailed haired girl cheerfully waved to him from the base of the hill and walked towards him. It wasn't who he expected; and he was never one for unnecessary conversation, but he did not mind the class representative. She was a good person in his book.

"How's it going, Shinji? It's been a while since I've last had a chance to chat with you. How've you been?"

"Oh, I've been okay, I guess. Nothing really new happening. I've been going to NERV and training so I can learn how to pilot better. Going through simulations and stuff like that."

"Sounds rough."

"Not really-- It just takes too long get it over with. Misato's a real perfectionist."

"Ah..." Hikari tried her best to avoid the message that was entrusted to her to be delivered to Shinji. It was rare that she had a chance to talk to her friend's boyfriend. There was also the pride she took in helping them realize each other's feeling. She needed to see how good her instincts were on the matters of the heart. "Can I ask you something?"

"Umm... sure, I guess."

"How was it...when you lived with Aiko and Mayumi? I'm sure it's none of my business, but I was just curious as to how things went. Did you all get along?" She paused. "And... ummm... if you had to share a room with..." Her embarrassment was vivid on her face.

"No! I didn't share a room with M-Mayumi!"

Hikari took her chance to avoid the fact she asked the question. "I don't know what your talking about! I was talking about Aiko! Shinji, you such a perv!"

"N-No I'm not! I just thought..."

Hikari covered her mouth and suppressed her giggles behind her fingers. Aiko was right, it was fun. "I'm kidding, Shinji, I'm kidding."

"Wha...?" Shinji sighed and frowned. "Aiko, right?"

"Yup!" Both laughed for a short while before returning to the verdant hill's tranquil winds. The wind's gentle flow was all that was needed for the time being. Shinji, in his reclusive nature, did not have much to discuss. He didn't mind her presence, but he felt obligated to keep her content through conversation, which is something he was never accustomed too. Hikari, in her own self-consciousness, could not bring herself to say anything. Was he okay just sitting there, looking at the skies through the trees above them?

"So, Shinji... not that I mind talking to you, but the real reason I came over here was because Mayumi couldn't get away from the other girls. She wants to talk to you, but--"

"I know." Shinji moved his hand through the grass near him, but did not pick at it. "It's funny. Even though I'm the same age and all, I understand that girls around this age can be... very interested when it comes to relationships. I guess they'll always be preoccupied with things like that."

Hikari was glad that she wouldn't have to explain the situation that Mayumi was in to Shinji. Less work for her, but now there was another thing to grip her mind. It wasn't exactly rocket science to find out girls her age are very interested in matters of the heart, but Shinji didn't seem like the person to grasp that idea in his head so early on-- let a lot understand and be okay with it. Maybe all that time with her sable-haired girl made Shinji think a bit more on the subject?

"Yeah! That's right." Hikari nodded with a smile. "Aiko wants to talk to you too, but--"

"She's got some new friends to talk to, right? I'm not surprised, really."

"I-It's not like she just left you, it's just... well..."

He smirked. "Heh... It's okay." Shinji ran his hands through his hair and chuckled. "A few weeks ago, Aiko was sitting right here with me, and I was hugging her like she was some sort of surrogate brother or something, keeping her company while she talked about how she wanted to talk to people and make new friends. I can't say I didn't like being there, and if I she wasn't someone important to me, I might be mad right now... but if it means she gets what she wants, then it's okay. She deserves some happiness, right? And I know it's the same with Mayumi..."

Hikari's smile didn't grow, but softened with every word he spoke. He hit the point, the core, the very meaning of the conversation with precise accuracy. He was much more perceptive than one would see and he would let on, she thought. "I'll... tell them that you got the message." Hikari got up and brushed the few blades of grass that managed to stick to her skirt off. "You know... you never... never mind. I'll see you later, Shinji."

Before Hikari was full into her pace of walking, she looked back when the young Ikari called out to her. "What is it?"

"Thanks. For trying to get us together, I mean. In some ways... it probably wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you. Neither of us would ever have gotten the courage to do something about it. Thank you, Hikari."

"Huh..? Oh! Don't mention it!" She smiled and began her walk back towards her darker-haired friend. 'How very keen of you...'

--

To be continued.

--

Author's Notes: So I was walking down the streets of Inglewood one day and I noticed, while I was hanging out with my friends no less, that I haven't really been working on this story as much I use to. I'm not bored with it, in fact I find it a nice get away from school when I have a project due and I feel like killing time before doing it at the last minute. In any case, I'll try and pick up the pace and get down to some typing, philosophin', and trying to get that three-way of my dreams I've always wanted. Two of those three will get done within the year, at least.

Oh, and all the chapters before this chapter have been grammatically revised-- not really the story, but yeah.

This one took quite some time mostly due to me trying to get into college and signing those damn forms. Anyway, I know there was a disturbin' lack of Eva action in this chapter, but it's crucial to see the nuances in Shinji's thoughts at the point at which he is in the main story. No real change in actions, since thinking doesn't always lead to action, which, besides being more willing to pilot and talking more, hasn't really occurred yet. What can I say? A person's character is forged by time, thought, and then feat.

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy. Don't sue, cause I'm already broke. You'll probably lose money in the process, too.

Thank you for all the reviews, even the bad ones.

They are all very appreciated and are used to make sure you enjoy and understand my piece.

This is the eighth chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

It had been raining again. Though the endless summer of the new century made a thousand of promises of droughts, dying crops, hot tarmac, and open fire hydrants for the suffering, sweltering youths of the new millennium, the skies would occasionally shed merciful tears for the devastated Mother Gaia, restoring hope for the parched, the hungry; cooling the hot streets of the bottoms, and the angel and government oppressed people. It was a shame, she thought, how rain was often used in popular literature and movies to express profound sadness when it could also show the chance for rebirth and restoration. And yet, despite her knowledge from books, she could not deny that she did not truly feel the joy of rebirth, but nor did she feel sadden by the pounding rain against the sullied apartment. Children, not from personal experience mind you, are said to feel unhappy when it rained, since it kept them away from their friends and constrained them to the confines of their homes. But Rei did not have friends and she did not have a reason to leave the apartment that she dwelled inside of; at least, not back then.

Though only one, she did have a friend, even if in title only. 'Shinji Ikari-- what an interesting person he is,' she thought idly, laying her head on the soft pillow and folding her arms in front of her then placing her chin before them. 'My friend...'

Shinji had made her do something that she would never even imagine herself doing within the few years left in her life; he had made her doubt the Commander. Not in a million years would she have lost faith in him; the man she had the utmost and unrelenting respect for, the man that raised her from her infancy to pre-adulthood; yet still, even now she doubted her suspect. She wouldn't have some troublesome thoughts if not for the son of NERV, her friend. The fact that she could not be with the Commander at the moment due to his travel to the second NERV branch did not help her restore her blind faith in him. It was not as if she had given up on him completely; she couldn't, since he had raised her those long years, yet she was shaken by the way she was sent into battle without a fully functional and heavily damaged Eva. It was a tremendously dangerous battle for just one pilot... but was that enough justification? Her battle effectiveness was nearly at zero to begin with, and in the end she was more trouble on the field that off, so was her so-called assistance justified? Such thoughts were bothersome.

The blue-haired girl sighed into the pale skin of her arms and turned over, letting her back rest against the white sheets of her bed. It was a change, moving and fidgeting around, but Shinji's words echoed into her mind back and forth, forcing her to reevaluate her relationship with the young Ikari and his father.

_"No. There's no way I can. Not in a father who abandoned me and one day called me out of the nowhere, simply because, 'he had a use for me'."_

'Abandoned... I can be replaced, so I will eventually be abandoned once my purpose has been fulfilled and I am of no use to him. I understand and await this, I have for quite some time, but I thought I had made peace with this long ago. So why? Why does it feel cold inside of my chest now?'

Thought Shinji had once said to her that she should smile more, and, aside from the moment he had seared his flesh for her and when she had protected him when he reached his limit, she found no true reason to. 'It felt... warm.' Even with her extensive lexicon she could not find the proper words to state how it felt to protect and be protected by her fallen friend. 'It is strange... why do I feel this foreign sensation down my arms and in my chest? It is not unpleasant, and yet, somehow, it is as well.'

She would have to discuss this with Shinji later. Talking to the Commander was out of the question, since such useless and personal questions had nothing to do with NERV and it's objectives, and Dr. Akagi is preoccupied with the reconstruction of Unit-00. So if she could not understand her emotions then it would be logical to question the cause, thus source, of the feelings. It only made sense.

Her whim was answered as the phone in the dusty corner of her room rung, breaking it's perpetual silence. Slowly she raised her head from her pale arms and swung her legs gracefully over the edge of her bed and sauntered to the phone. She picked up the blue, curved shape rung, dusting her skinny finger's in the dust that caked it's plastic shell.

It was a coincidental happening, but not one that was regrettable; not in the least.

"Rei?"

She paused as the voice put a face to the unexpected call. "Yes. Hello, Shinji."

"Are you doing anything today? Misato and I are going to oversee the arrival of Unit-02 and it's pilot. She said I could bring a few of my friends, but Mayumi and Aoki said they couldn't go-- their mother thought it was too dangerous to be around naval battleships, who would have thought, huh?" He laughed forcefully, but convincingly, and went on. "Anyway... Touji and Kensuke will go, and I was wondering if you wanted to too-- If you can! Your probably busy at NERV anyway..."

"No, I am not. The Commander is away at the second branch of NERV. There is no reason for me to be at NERV at the moment."

Shinji took his time before responding. "Well, is that a yes?"

Rei thought his proposal over. In the same way she wasn't required to be at NERV she didn't need to oversee the arrival of the new Evangelion unit. Despite that reasoning, it would present an appropriate time to question the young boy about the strange sensation she had been dealing with since he said he wanted camaraderie. Without too much mental deliberation she agreed, and they said their farewell's before hanging up.

Rei placed the phone in it's place and stared at it for some time in calm disbelief. It was not in her usual mannerism to indulge in something that was not required by NERV or the Commander, yet there she was, going on an unnecessary trip with no true goal other than fulfilling her personal whims and wants. It must be something friends did, right?

--

Somewhere above the layers of dirt and stone sat a calm and collected, bearded man, phone in hand, arranging the events which would lead the beginning of all ends. The almost deathly silent glide of the enormous aircraft seemed to defied the laws of both gravity and common sense, nevertheless, he and the mechanical beast flew towards the second branch of NERV; one without mind or care for it's destination, the other fully aware that he should not be on the aircraft, but within the confines of Central Dogma, even behind his desk would have sufficed better, yet he had to compensate for the unexpected development. A development that had taken the form of a young girl who had captured his son's affection.

But it was not a problem; she and Third Child have already been bound to his will, unknown to both that they will end each other's soon to come persistence against his order's and directive.

Gendo Ikari spoke with the usual booming tone of a commander. "Correct, I have already made the necessary arrangements with the committee. The cargo left from Sasebo Port yesterday and is now making its way here across the Pacific Ocean."

Another end tied, and soon another to deal with.

--

"WOW! A MIG-55D transport helicopter! I'd never thought I'd have the chance to fly on one of these babies!" Kensuke swerved his camcorder to and fro, recording every nook and cranny of the mechanical contraption. "Man! It sure is great having a famous Eva pilot like you for a friend, right, Shinji!"

The intelligent young brunet said, "Huh..?" Shinji leaned against the metal of the helicopter and tugged at the straps across his chest with no real reason.

Misato turned around and with the usual cheeriness of her second personality said, "Yeah! I thought you must be getting sick of being cramped up in the mountains, so I thought I'd be kinda nice if you guys could come along this little date."

"What!" shouted the now enthusiastic jock, "Are you saying t-that this is really a d-date we're havin', Misato? And I bought this cap especially for today, just for you!-- I'll never take it off!" Shinji made a note at how his accent diminished slightly as he spoke to Misato.

Shinji sighed and folded his arms. Rei, who had took her seat next to him, sat quietly for the most part of the trip and looked out the side of the helicopter, staring at the clouds ahead or the sea below. It seemed to be the thing she did when there was nothing better to do; staring at the clouds. The few times he looked at her during class she was starting outside the window; starting at the clouds. He thought it wasn't a bad habit since, it distracted the eyes and killed time a bit faster, but it still seemed strange that she agreed to tag along yet not utter a single word to him, aside from the greeting that is. Turning his head forward, he sighed once again and deadpanned. "So, where are we going?"

"Oh! We're just taking a cruise on that cute little boat down there!" winked the beautiful captain.

"WOW! One-Two-Three-Four-Five Aircraft carriers and four battleships! What a fleet!"

"That's your cute little boat?" Touji said dryly.

"She's gorgeous! That's the pride of the UN combined fleet, the super-carrier "Over the Rainbow"!" said Kensuke, while filming every vessel he could possibly fit within the lens of his camcorder.

Shinji looked over edge of the helicopter from his seat and gazed at the large and numerous ships sailing towards the west. While the fleet was impressive in magnitude, the hulls of the ship were notably deteriorating from ages on the saline seas. What caught his attention more than the nine ships below were the clear blue skies and the briny scent that was wafted by the westerly winds; and, by looking to his left, he was not alone in the appreciation of the ocean aroma. Rei, as if accustomed to the large waterborne military, ignored the boats and gazed at the clouds and sun and beyond.

Misato gave a look of little interest, but managed her usual smile. "Personally, I'm surprised that such a crusty old relic can still float."

With as much gruff as he could, Kensuke said, "Nah, it's not so bad. It's a vintage model from just before the Second Impact."

Within minutes the cargo ship landed on top of the flight deck of the Over the Rainbow and released it's occupants and the umbilical cable of the new Evangelion.

From the flight deck, Shinji could better sense the briny aroma of the south pacific. The tangy taste that entered his nose that filled his lungs was a pleasant feeling that uncovered a nostalgic memory that was yet to fully rise. The wind was strong and fast enough to make the excess of his belt and the collar of his shirt flap and float upward and to his east. 'One of those days,' he thought.

Kensuke, with his love for all this that go bang, exclaimed, "Cool! Cool! Cool! Cool! This is way too cool!" His camcorder caught all the mechanical contraptions; from the catwalks, to the fighter jets, to the mounted antiaircraft artillery, all was captured by the raving Otaku. "I'm so happy I wanna cry! Look at all those antennas, dishes, and guns, and launch pads."

While Kensuke went about his business Touji spent the better part of his time chasing his new hat which had been blown away by the westerly gusts. "Hey, hey, wait up! Get my hat! Stop damn you-- that's my special hat!" To his fortune, future dismay, the white and black striped hat stopped as it made contact with a pair of red shoes. The jock smiled and sighed in relief as he caught up with his hat, only to be unpleasantly surprised as the owner of the shoes raised her foot and stepped on his special hat. "Wha-what...!"

Ignoring the frown and growing anger on the dark-haired boy, the yellow sundress clad girl sassily placed a fist to her side and looked beyond the strange boy in front of her. "Well, hello, Misato. How've you been?"

The NERV tactician kept her hair in place with one hand and smiled at the familiar face. "Just fine. Goodness you've grown some, haven't you?"

The red-manned girl spoke as any woman would have, formally yet approachable. She smiled smugly and allowed her naturally red hair to flow on the salted air. "Mhmm, and I'm not just taller either, my figure's filled out as well."

Kensuke drooled inwardly. 'Damn straight!'

Misato placed her hand on the stoic Ayanami's shoulder and her other arm around Shinji. "Let me introduce you two. This is the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-02, the second child, Asuka Langley Soryu." As if on cue, the wind suddenly picked up and grabbed the somewhat fleeting attention of Unit-01's pilot as the gust lifted the German girl's sundress, exposing the white panties underneath.

It was unfortunate for Touji that he was directly in front her at the time; it was unlucky that Kensuke's camcorder had filmed the results of the updraft; and it was ill-fated, but expectedly so, that Shinji looked at the sudden panty shot, and worse so, happened to be a male, since all male eyes that gazed upon what she considered a privilege were promptly slapped.

Shinji sighed and frowned at the stinging redness of his left cheek, but took this as his daily dose of humiliation from the god of embarrassment and cruel jokes. Kensuke took the camcorder away from his eye and looked and worried over the cracked glass more than the purple circle around his eye.

Touji got up and ignored the perfectly indented slap print on his cheek. "What did ya' do that for!"

The fiery redhead place her fist on both her hips and retorted. "That's the viewing fee. Quite a bargain, don't you think?"

Knowing that he couldn't punch a girl, no matter how much of a bitch he thought she was, Touji found the only solution for their little confrontation. "It's overpriced, but that's alright, here's your change!" Touji pulled down his sweat pants and gave the girl her well-deserved comeuppance.

Obviously not expecting to see the idiot's junk, she stammered, "Ahhh!" the girl gasped at the sight and gave him an even harder slap on his other cheek, and cussed him in a language not known to him. "Damn idiot!"

Shinji and Kensuke recoiled at the echoing slap, and Misato simply smiled at the antics of the youths.

The red-head stepped forward and ignored the bothersome jock then looked at her new commanding officer. "Sooo, which one is the famous Third Child..?" She frowned and looked back at the idiot that had flash her his penis. "Ack, nien..."

Misato rubbed Shinji's mop of hair and pushed his forward. "Don't worry, Asuka. Here's the famous Third Child," she said with her hand still on his head.

His first impression of the strange girl in front of him was that she was different. She certainly wasn't one to hold in her opinion or be outspoken, he thought. She was not reserved or in the least bit shy, unlike Ayanami, who stood silently next to him without saying a word, but analyzing what was going on. Maybe she was just a normal, eccentric girl, he thought. It would be a change from the quiet and polite girls he knew. 'She's pretty, I can't say she isn't... but she seems violent. Like the kind of girl who would be a mean drunk...' His thoughts were true; though young, the nymph in front of him was exceptionally striking, both in form and facial features, and her red mane seemed to flow as elegantly as her appearance. 'Well, at least me and Rei won't be alone in the fight...'

Asuka pushed her face forward and looked incredulously at the boy in front of her, wrinkling her nose and shrinking her eyes as she inspected him further. "Hmm..." she came to her conclusion and talked as if he was not there. "Not much to look at, is he?" Shinji deadpanned at her comment.

"And this is the First Child and pilot of Eva Unit-00, Rei Ayanami." Misato said cheerfully.

Asuka, glad to see another female to talk to, so that she may be free from the idiot, nerd, and dull boy, walked towards the blue-haired girl. "Hey, First Child! I'm glad your here-- you must be glad too, since I'm sure that you must be tired of hanging around that idiot," she said while pointing back at Touji, "all day long. And I'm sure the Third Child you must boring you too. Let's be good friends!"

Uncertain as to what to say, Ayanami looked at her and said, "Why?"

Without missing a beat, even with the strange respond, she replied, "Since it would be convenient. Besides, I'm sure we'll get along just fine."

"How are you so sure?"

"Cause' we're girls, of course."

Rei pondered this and considered the strange logic that the Second Child had presented to her. Thought she already had Shinji as a friend, it took time for her to place her trust in the young Ikari; time spent mostly on the battlefield where Shinji had proven the extent of his concern over her well-being. It was the only way she knew how to obtain a friend, so to be offered friendship from a strange person, albeit Eva pilot, seemed foreign and unrealistic. With no idea as to how to respond, Rei turned her head and looked at Shinji, who shrugged his shoulders, not really knowing what to do.

Rei looked back at the smug smile on Asuka. "I will consider it."

Asuka raised her eyebrow. 'What kind of response is that..?'

--

"Mhmm..." The admiral of the Pacific Fleet held up Misato's ID, which had her age, weight, and measurements crossed out, and held it in front of her, despite the fact that she was who she identified herself to be. "NERV; from your antics on the deck I was quite sure you were the leader of this boy scout troop. Obviously, I was mistaken."

Misato ignored his obvious annoyance towards her, and her charges, and carried herself as an adult would. "Thank you for you gracious hospitality, Admiral."

"Oh no, thank you for giving me the opportunity to baby-sit so many more children," his non-complacent voice groaned as Kensuke taped every aspect of the bridge.

"And thank you for your assistance in the marine transport of Eva Unit-02," Misato opened the folder in her arms and withdrew a hefty clump of paperwork from it, "Here are the specifications for the emergency power supply."

The heavily decorated admiral took the papers and gave them a fleeting glance before returning to the woman in front of him. "Hmm, you've wasted a trip. I'd never approve any request to activate that toy while at sea in the first place."

"Think of it as being prepared for an emergency. The Evangelion is quite valuable, sir."

"So valuable that the entire Pacific Fleet has to be pulled for guard duty?" The gruff admiral turned and addressed the man standing behind him, "Exactly when the UN re-commission us into a bloody cargo service?"

"If my memory serves me correctly," began the younger man, "it was after a certain organization was established."

"Guarding a toy... what a ridiculously grandiose assignment for the entire Pacific Fleet!" he said indignantly.

"It's still not enough, not when you consider the importance of the Eva," Misato pulled more paperwork from the folder, "Please sign these transfer documents."

"Not yet!" Misato felt her patience slip at the navy man's tactlessness. "The Eva Unit-02 and it's pilot has been entrusted to us by the Third Branch in Germany, your not just gonna waltz in and do as you please, Captain Katsuragi."

Regaining her composure, Misato said, "When will you transfer them to us?"

"Once we've unloaded in New Yokosuka. The ocean is our jurisdiction. As long as their is water below us, you will follow our orders here."

"I understand." She snapped her folder closed, and with a scream behind her smile, replied, "However, I should remind you that, in case of an emergency, NERV's military authority overrides your own, placing me in complete control."

Shinji could only look at his commanding officer incredulously; she had once again gone into her no-bullshit mode and was dealing out her polite jabs at the pompous admiral. "She sounds just like Ritsuko..."

Everyone's attention was suddenly grabbed by a strange voice coming from the doorway. Within the metal hallway, stood a tall man between the age of early and mid-thirties with an unshaven mug and a sly grin on his womanizing face. "Well your as gallant as always!" The tough nymph next to Shinji had suddenly become a blushing schoolgirl, with faint red on her cheeks and giddy voice to boot. She squealed what could only be his name; Kaji. Surprised by his unwelcome and much disdained appearance, Misato frowned and grimaced as the man she had hoped never to see again stood only a few feet away.

--

**That was the first time I saw him...**

**Did you become a pervert then?**

**Please... I was one way before that.**

**Don't have to tell me twice...**

--

"What are you doing here!" growled a furious tactician, too angry, or not caring enough, to notice Shinji's red face planted on her chest.

"Escorting her." He tried his best to gesture towards Asuka in the cramped elevator, only succeeding in pushing himself closer to the angry woman. "I'm on a business trip of sorts from Germany."

"Tsk... talk about careless. I should have anticipated something like this..." There was a sudden pause before both she and Asuka's eyes went wide. Both sprang up and screamed, "Hey! Watch where your touching!"

Touji and Kaji, desperate to not get slapped, answered, "I can't help it!"

Kensuke, oblivious to what was going on besides the innards of the enormous aircraft carrier, filmed whatever he could. It was after Kaji was clumsily slapped and Touji's face was pushed into the fenced gate of the elevator that Rei said anything. "I am uncomfortable."

"S-Sorry, Rei, can't move my hands right now." Shinji said weakly, trying his best to not pass out from the breast pressed against his face. 'This could only happen to me...'

After the awkwardness of being in a cramped room, Kaji suggested they grabbed a bite to eat. They all rushed over to the dinning quarters, which were completely empty aside from the seven of them. Kaji sat across from Misato, much to her annoyance, and Asuka sat next to him, pushing Shinji rudely out of the way. He sighed with annoyance but didn't complain more than that. Touji sat next to his 'date', and Kensuke took his seat next to him. Unfortunately, the table was only meant to accommodate six people, so Rei stood and watched as Misato tried her best to avoid looking at the grown man with the ponytail.

As Shinji was taking his seat, he looked at his stoic comrade and stood up. "Here," he said gesturing at his seat, "I'll just go get one from another table." Before she could say anything, he went to the table nearby and brought a seat so that he sat facing the center of the table. Rei took her seat with uncertainty, but thanked him for his courtesy, to which Asuka huffed and returned her attention to Kaji.

'Hmm! Seems like the First and Third are getting along quite nicely...' she thought scornfully.

"So, do you have a boyfriend right now?" He coaxed the purple-haired woman suavely.

"I don't think that's any of your business, is it?"

The man leaned back on his chair and took a sip from the cup in front of him. "Hmm... I'm hurt. Ow." He tapped his shoe against her boot, trying his best to make her play footsie. Getting a sharp rejecting from her boot, he turned his attention towards the famous Third Child. "So, I hear your living with Katsuragi.

"Y-Yeah." He replied with a smile.

Kaji smirked mischievously and went along with his tease. "So, tell me something, is she still so... wild in bed?" Everyone at the table, with the exception of Ayanami and Ikari, panicked by the sharp turn in conversation and gagged on their drink wide-eyed.

"Wha-Wha-What!" Misato, now as red as her flight jacket, slammed her hands onto the table. "What are you implying by that, you lecher!"

Ignoring the rage and embarrassment emitting from his former lover, Kaji turned to Shinji. "No, she hasn't changed at all has she? She probably still sleeps sprawled all over the bed, right Shinji?"

"Hmm... I guess." Clueless as to what he was really talking about, he continued. "Yeah, I have to wake her up every morning-- and she never wants to get up... but, how did you know what my name was?"

"Well, I oughtta know you. Your famous, at least in our business. The vaunted Third Child, who piloted an Eva in battle his first time with no prior training. And forced the angel to self-destruct, too."

Shinji rubbed the back his head with embarrassment. "Oh, no... I was just lucky, that's all." Asuka glared at him with little of her anger hidden.

"Ha! Luck is part of your ability. It's your talent." He stood up from the table and cheerfully announced his departure. "Well, I'll see you all later."

"Okay!"

All the while Misato held her head and tried to ignore that she had ever seen him, and that her personal business and past affair had now become public knowledge to five teenagers, one of which she had to face when they arrived at New Yokosuka and at home. "This isn't happening. No, this a nightmare!"

--

"So, what do you think about Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami?" He asked.

"Oh, the great Third Child? He's boring. And that Rei girl is weird." She held onto railing over the starboard side of the Over the Rainbow, letting her legs and hair flow and dangle over the deep blue.

"And yet, his synchronization ratio was well over 40 in combat with no prior training. And he defeated two angels alone and two more with the assistance of the First Child."

"Two angels? 40! Mien Gott!" Even Asuka Langley Soryu has to admit the impressiveness of that feat. "I'll be right back, Kaji!" With that, she rushed away to look for the great Third Child.

All the children of Class 2-A stood in the escalator leading to the bridge. They had no where else to go, so it only seemed appropriate to be in the mind of the ship, at least that is what Misato's excuse was. Shinji knew it was also to spite the pompous admiral of the Over the Rainbow.

Touji leaned on the moving rail. "Man! That admiral's attitude gets on my nerve."

"He's full of himself alright. Pride can make anyone a sarcastic prick." She said casually.

"Say, Rei," he started, "What do you think of Mr. Kaji? He's pretty umm... interesting, wouldn't you say?"

Rei honestly didn't have an opinion on the man, but it seemed like Shinji wished for her to talk more. Judging by the tone of his voice, she could tell that the young pilot didn't have a negative thing to say about him, and neither did she. "I think he is interesting as well."

"He hasn't changed at all, that chauvinistic pig!"

Deciding to change the subject that obviously rubbed Misato the wrong way, Shinji sighed and nudged Rei. "So, what made you decide to come along anyway? I mean, I'm glad your here and all, but it was strange of you to agree."

"Strange?"

"I-I mean... your always at NERV, so I figured that you were going to be busy. Of course, I wanted you to come, though."

"Without the Commander at NERV and no synchronization tests being held, I was free to do as I pleased. Besides, this is more interesting that staying home or going to school."

Shinji chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Kensuke, who was too busy filming the escalator for some reason, pointed his camera towards the two Eva pilots. "Amen to that! This is so much cooler than reading some book about it or looking at some photos. There's nothing like experiencing the real thing!"

"Yeah, I forgot to thank ya' for the nice excuse out of school, Shinji. Better than listenin' to that old man talk about the Second Impact the last second half of class. I know it was a big tragedy an' all, but c'mon! Hearin' about it everyday for a whole year..." Touji scratched the back of his head as he finished. "Yeah, so thanks man."

"You should thank Misato, not me."

"Oh, it's alright. I wasn't that big a fan about school when I was young either."

"Shinji." Rei began, "I wanted to ask--"

Rei was interrupted as the voice of the red-haired nymph echoed within the narrowness of the passageway. "Hey, Third Child! Your coming with me." Once again, her question was left unanswered; even worse, unheard.

--

After taking several escalators, elevators, and one helicopter, Asuka had taken Shinji to the large ship with a large tented area on the flight deck. After practically dragging him by his wrist, they had arrived at the housing of Evangelion Unit-02. Asuka proudly lifted the heavy cloth and showed her pride and joy to the so-called great Third Child.

"That's an interesting color. I didn't know it was red."

She smugly led him into the cargo holding. "That's not all that's different about my Unit-02." They walked on the makeshift bridge of metal planks and barrels over the transparent mauve liquid which slightly submerged the red beast. The red-haired nymph, filled with pride of place over her Eva and ability to pilot it, climbed onto it's head and chest, perching herself onto it's highest point. "Units-00 and 01 were the prototype and test type, respectively. The fact that Unit-01 synchronized with an untrained pilot like you is proof of that, however Unit-02 is a little bit different." Extending her arm for the grand introduction, she announced with gusto, "Unit-02 is the world's first real Evangelion. Created for actual combat conditions, it's the final production model!"

Her pride and joy's introduction was cut short as the ship was rocked and the briny smell become ever more present. An explosion was heard, loud and only meters away. "What was that!"

"Undersea shock wave! And it sounded close."

Both Eva pilots rushed back from the tented housing to the edge of the ship. To their dismay, a battleship had an enormous gaping hole in the middle of it's hull, torn asunder in what appeared to be a large bite mark. They arrived on time to see the remaining halves of the ship explode in a mix of smoke and a jet spray of ocean's spit.

Whatever it was underneath the broad back of the ocean, to create such a large wave, who's whitecap surpassed even the antennas of the enormous battleships, it must have been a gargantuan leviathan. The pungent scent of brine seemed to cover them; a warning to the pilots who would undoubtedly rise to challenge it.

"It can't be-- an angel!"

"An angel? You mean a real one?"

There seemed to be no end to the sirens and resonating sounds of undersea explosions. "This is bad! We have to find Misato!"

Seeing her chance to use her Eva in actual combat, Asuka grinned. "Now's my chance! Ikari! Get over here!" She grabbed the startled boy's hand and dragged him into the stairwell that lead her the titan beneath the tent. Grabbing her red duffle bag in the small locker room inside the Eva's chamber, she pushed him forward and handed him a plug suit from her bag. "Hurry up and get suited!" she walked further down the stairwell, "Peek and you die!"

Without thinking too much, Shinji suited up. Unfortunately for him, and much to his embarrassment, the plug suit that Asuka had given him must have been a female type, since he found himself covering his uncomfortably compressed crotch. "Oowww..." he groaned, "Asuka! This is embarrassing! Why do I need this plug suit!"

Once fully suited, Asuka walked up the stairwell and dragged him unwillingly towards the Eva. "Are you dense! We're going to defeat this angel with my Unit-02!" On cue, the entry plug opened up, ready to except the pilots.

"N-No way! Does Misato know about this!" he whined.

"I'll get her permission afterwards."

Both climbed onto the entry plug. It seemed that Shinji had a knack for never being alone inside of the Evangelion for long. Looking back, it was usually a good thing, but now, with the bellicose nymph leading him, it seemed more of a misfortune. "There! Get ready for an amazing display of piloting, Third Child. Just sit down and don't bug me."

Asuka took her seat on the Throne of the Soul and began the start-up sequence, filling the molybdenum and lithium cylinder with a faint aurora, glowing brighter as the Eva's heart beat steadily. Shinji huddled behind the throne and nervously held onto it's metal frame; this wasn't going to be easy, be it from the angel's size or Asuka's temper. "LCL Füllung." She closed her eyes and continued her start up. "Anfang der Bewegung. Anfang des Nervenanschlusses. Auslösung von Linkskleigung. Synchro... start." The chamber glowed and showed the strange symmetrical patterns and lights it always did, but did not end by showing the Eva's surroundings. Throughout the cylinder, the word, "FEHLER" flashed.

"I-It's a programming error?"

"It's thought noise." she corrected, "I told you not to disturb me."

"What do you mean?"

"Ahh! Your thinking in Japanese-- think in German!"

"Ugh, well, I'll try," he gathered his little knowledge of German and went through the list, "Braunschweiger, bratwurst, baumkuchen..."

"Grrr... idiot! Forget it!" She closed her eyes once again. "Switch the base language to Japanese." Once the symmetrical patterns and lights flashed by once again, the Eva activated once more. "Evangelion Unit-02, go!"

Over the communications onboard Unit-02, "Telex from carrier Othello! Unit-02 is in the process of activation!"

The entire bridge faced towards the Othello, the mammoth aircraft carrier devoid of any actual aircrafts, as a humming groan was heard beneath the cloth as the Eva rose from it's stupor. Below the heavy cloth stood the red titan, all but it's ankles covered by the dull khaki of it's confinement.

The admiral grabbed the microphone and yelled, "Abort! Abort the Eva activation sequence!"

Misato snatched the microphone away from him. "Don't listen to that moron, Asuka, go for it!"

The steel-eyed pilot of Unit-02 looked at the cloth covering her Eva's eyes and frowned in anticipation. Her first fight, her first real Eva fight. It was finally time to show the world the value that she held, to show what she was worth. "Asuka, we're using the B-Type equipment. If we fall into the ocean, it's over."

She smirked. "Then we won't do that."

Misato looked towards the Othello in surprise at the second voice. "Shinji, are you in there too?"

"Yes, ma'am! Hi!" He answered back enthusiastically.

Rei, silent as usual, stood by and stared in anticipation for up coming battle. She had confidence in the abilities of Shinji, experience with him in combat had taught her as much, even though the Commander had told her to rely on her own abilities as a pilot, since one could only depend on themselves; but she has not seen the capabilities of pilot Soryu. From word-of-mouth, the Second Child was quite gung ho about her duties, but she has not been up against a real angel, only simulations created by the magi in the Third Branch in Germany.

Rei could vividly remember the feeling of Unit-00's knees giving out beneath her, and the terror that flashed through her heart when she knew that it was her hurting the young Ikari. She could not see, could not feel, but she knew. How would the Second Child perform on her debut battle, she asked herself. All around them was nothing but ocean and sparse battleships for movements. All she could do is trust her and Shinji.

Misato snatched back the microphone. "Asuka! Launch!"

Rei looked at the Othello and thought, 'Good luck, Shinji.'

The spear of sea and whitecap circled the Othello before charging towards it, sending it's second aircraft carrier to the ruins below, and splitting the flock of seagulls above.

"GO!" yelled Shinji.

"Let's do it, Third Child..." With a flick and tug of the dual controls before her, the Eva leaned on it's haunches and took to the blue skies just as the spear hit and reaved through the Othello with a resounding boom. Keeping it's makeshift cape, the red titan soared through the pacific winds and landed onto the nearby battleship, turning it's weapons into steel mulch. The machine of destruction and expansive pacific below was reduced into an expensive gunmetal and oceanic saxe blue plateau as the red titan landed on top of it; the deus ex machina of this aquatic fight.

"Where is it!"

"That way!" pointed Shinji towards the destroyed Othello. He saw a counter flash and looked at it's falling numbers. "We've only got 58 seconds of power left, Asuka!"

"I'm well aware of that. Misato! Get the external power supply onto the flight deck!"

"I'm on it!"

"Right! Let's play hopscotch!"

"Huh? Hopscotch!"

Unit-02, cloak in hand, leapt from it's plateau and back straight towards the sun. With skillful timing and precise eye coordination, Asuka's Eva leapt from ship to ship, keeping the spear on a random course, waiting to hear Misato confirm the availability of the umbilical cable. Hearing the technicians and navy men confirm the successful retrieval of the cable, Asuka turned her sights towards the launch pad of the Over the Rainbow. With a determined grin, she willed the Eva; it bent on it's haunches, and the titan, like a ruby flash, cast aside it's tearing cloak and turned it's path from side to side to linear and headed for the source of it's life.

All the while, missiles, rockets, and mortar was fired to the enemy that has yet to show all of itself. The conventional weapons would do nothing, as far as Misato, and anyone else with the knowledge of angels, were concerned. The A.T. Field, the absolute terror field, could not be penetrated by the anything less than an Evangelion.

"Eva Unit-02, coming in for landing!" The excitement in her voice was evident; a Valkyrian warrior soaring within the realm of this reality, ready to take the aquatic beast beneath the tempest to the afterworld. With as much grace as possible, Unit-02 landed on it's feet onto the flight deck, leaning away from where the large ship was tilting, and placing it's crimson hand onto the control tower, allowing time to steady herself.

Kensuke filmed in agony as the fighter jets on the flight deck were tossed into the briny blue. His only solace was the 'ninja-like movements' of Unit-02.

"Target is approaching rapidly!"

Shinji turned to see the spear of whitecap heading their way, and tried his best to be helpful. "It's coming! Port side, 9 O' clock!"

"Switching to external power." The red Eva reached and placed the umbilical cable onto it's back, ridding them the worry of a time limit, for now at least. "Switch completed."

"We don't have any guns..."

"The progressive knife should do it."

The whirling hum and click of the red titan's shoulder produced the progressive knife, which was promptly draw out of it's holster. The white spear was closing in; the Eva held out it's weapon and unsheathed the glowing, vibrating blade, challenging whatever was hiding beneath the waves.

The spear was gone, and out arose the pale pearl colored angel, it's magnitudinous hulk of a body tearing the ocean apart. There was no mistaking it, this was the white whale which has spent it's time decimating the combined US and UN navy. 'Typical... all those missiles and it's up to little-o'-me to take care of the big bad angel. I'll show them what a little girl and her toy can do!'

"It's gigantic!" Shinji awed.

"Hmm, the bigger they are..."

The red titan braced for impact; it's feet were apart, side to side, and both it's arms held the blade in front of it, both shield and sword.

Only several meters away, the pearl angel dipped it's head beneath the sea, built up it's momentum, and jumped. Considering it's immense size, the space between it and the sea beneath was ridiculous spacious; a flying whale. It's head, a giant beak both wider and lengthier than the Eva, and strange octopus like body, no matter how oblong, still did not manage to make it look any less menacing, not when it soared through the air straight at them.

Unit-02 grabbed the fleshy beak as it neared the ship and twisted it before it landed onto the flight deck, but it was too much to grab at one time; the progressive knife was dropped and landed on the flight deck, splitting a fighter plane in half. Asuka grit her teeth as the Eva wrestled with the enormous angel, but to no avail. She was pushed back, he Eva's feet slipping onto the retractable deck and fell off the deck and into the ocean, taking the aquatic angel with it.

"A-Asuka!" screamed Misato, "It's impossible fighting underwater using the B-type equipment!"

Despite that they were now in a disadvantage and the angel now free to move as it wished, Asuka's confidence did not falter. She clutched the controls and replied smugly. "Well, you know what they say, you never know until you try!"

Deeper and deeper Asuka and Shinji fell into the pre-Second Impact world. Soon enough, the skyscrapers were close, the buildings could be touched, and then the cars could be flattened. They crashed to the new bottom and old surface, colliding through the decaying ruins of what use to be civilization. The landing did not last long. When they hit the seafloor's bottom, the red Eva grabbed the angel's whale flesh beak and were soon jetting through the deep pacific like a bat out of hell.

Within a matter of minutes both began feeling claustrophobic and dizzy, but neither would admit it, not when they were being dragged around at the bottom of the sea, crashing and tumbling through decaying buildings and destroyed homes; but they knew that the umbilical cable would soon reach it's end.

Topside, Misato realized the same thing. "How much cable is left!"

"One thousand, two hundred meters!"

The admiral, now realizing the uselessness of his navy in the face of the angels, tipped his hat over his eyes. "What are you going to do now?"

"We'll deal with it!"

Meanwhile, Asuka cringed and reclined in her throne, feeling the building shrapnel imbedding in the joints of the Eva's armor. 'Lucky Shinji, I'm the one connected, so all you feel is the turbulence..!'

"Asuka! We've got to do something! All we're doing is being dragged across the pavement!"

"The cable's about to run out, brace for the shock!" screamed their captain.

Shinji held onto the throne while Asuka leaned heavily against it. Seconds later, the cable straightened and pulled them off of the angel, who's speed increased with the Eva now off it's eye. "Damn it..."

Misato turned at the sudden movement on the flight deck, seeing only Kaji waving at her from the Yak 38 Custom, turning tail like the coward she thought he ways. "Aahh..!"

Rei all the while tried to analyze what was going on. 'Submerged in the ocean with the B-type equipment. Suspended by the umbilical cable with no progressive knife. Two pilots, one Eva and no possible way to retrieve them other than to retract the cable. I am unsure as to how to follow with this.' It was at this time that she could only trust in the abilities of her friend. It seemed to be such a hard thing to do.

"Admiral! The angel's coming back!"

Like a shark surrounding it's prey, the angel rapidly circled it's prey, choosing to intimate the defenseless Eva and savor it's imminent victory. Asuka clutched the controls. "Grrr... I'll finish it off this time!" The Eva did not respond; it floated lifeless in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by the predator. "Hey! What's wrong? It's not working!"

Shinji leaned forward. "It's B-type equipment..."

"Well, what're you gonna do!"

"What am I?"

"Well, your the famous Third Child, aren't you? Do something to save our asses!"

Before he could even retort, he looked towards the fast approaching shark heading their way. "Ah! Look!" The Eva lifted it's head and waited for the inevitable, looking on helplessly as the angel proved that they were in it's domain. "It's coming!" The angel opened it's mouth and bared the red orb within it's dead center and it's numerous rows of large and small teeth; a chainsaw wrapped around the inside of it's jaw, waiting to tear the red armor to shreds.

Asuka jumped into seat at the white sight. "Ahh! Teeth..!"

"It's an angel..." he pointed out without too much subtly. He knew it was coming, and that there was no way to possibly avoid it. So he placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "Get ready..." The pain was coming, and, if it really was her first fight against a real angel, it would be the first real sword to pierce her.

Too soon the angel's teeth grew in size as the angel bit into the abdomen of the Eva; a nostalgic, albeit painful memory for Shinji, and swallowed the Eva's upper half. Asuka, to her credit, did not let go of her controls, instead she shrieked at the three searing pains at her sides and abdomen. And yet, despite the way he tried to steady his comrade and fellow pilot, his only thoughts were focused on whether Rei and the rest could escape safely home, and the disappointment he would feel knowing that he failed his fellow pilot and the sable-haired girl that meant so much to him.

"Eva-02 has entered the target's body!"

Touji looked at the convulsive movements of the ocean and grimaced at what must have been going on down there. "Does that mean they've been eaten'?" He poked his head outside the shattered window and tried to make out what was going on, catching a glimpse of the umbilical cable. "This is like marlone fishin'..."

Rei's placid eye suddenly went wide, along with Misato's, who undoubtedly had the same idea as her. "Fishing... Captain Katsuragi!"

The angel continued to parade it's catch around, leaving the legs of Unit-02 to dangle pathetically outside of it's mouth. Shinji took the controls and looked up at the red orb glowing somewhere inside of the angel's body. To his dismay, he could not reach. "Damn... not close enough. This just goes from bad to worse!"

"Oh, shut-up you pessimist!" Asuka blushed at the pressure on her waist, and tried her best to move Shinji off of her. "And get off of my lap, you pervert!" she said, slamming her fists onto his head.

"But we have to free ourselves!"

Rei's voice cut from the static over the communications, and, for once, was loud and clear. "Shinji! Can you hear me? Make sure to not let go of that angel! Captain Katsuragi and I have come up with a plan."

The entry plug went silent for a brief moment. They weren't suppose to move? It's not as if they had much of choice. So, with nothing better to do, they argued about nothing; about Shinji being a pervert, about Asuka being abrasive, and anything else under the sun, or sea as the situation may have left them. Within minutes, the angel slowed down, satisfied in the humiliation it gave the once proud titan, and floated just below the sea level, leaving it's vague outline skimming teasingly out of human eyesight. It seemed alarmingly nonchalant, all things considering.

While being smacked around, Shinji floated backwards into the LCL and triggered the communications with NERV Headquarters. To his surprise, he found the three bridge technicians playing cards on their control panels. Maya, Aoba, and Hyuga turned their head's towards the monitor that just flashed on; their faces were drained of color when they noticed that the were inside of something. Knowing their line of work, it could only be an angel.

All three techs rushed over to their consoles and tried to make out what was going on, but to no avail. It was only the most level-headed of the three to figure out that they couldn't do a thing at the moment. Maya looked at the screen and addressed Shinji. "Shinji! What going on!"

Shinji growled as his ears were pulled by the disgruntled female pilot. "Grr... H-Hi, Ms. Ibuki! Didn't mean to bother you, just got eaten by this angel." He tried his best to ignore Asuka's attempt to snatch the neural connectors on his head. "Don't worry, we'll be at Headquarters in no time!" He cut the accidentally turned on connection, leaving the three technicians alone to ponder what exactly was going on in the pacific, and why he was wearing a woman's plug suit.

It was Aoba who summed up their questions eloquently enough. "The hell was going in there?"

Back in the control tower of the Over the Rainbow, the master tactician, Misato Katsuragi, stood in front of the now pride less admiral. "Well, admiral, I've got a plan."

"What now?" he said tiredly.

"I'm going to need your cooperation. I'll need to use your two remaining battleships to assault the angel; just to warn you, they'll be used for point blank assaults upon the angel's core."

"A point-black assault by the two surviving battleship! What the hell is going on inside of your head, Captain Katsuragi?"

"That's the only plan that has a chance of success. We'll sink the battleships after evacuation in line with the umbilical cable and set up a trap for the angel. When the Eva opens the angel's mouth, the Illinois and Kentucky will rush into the angel's opening via remote control. This will allow the Eva to free itself from the Angel's jaws and will then be retracted by the umbilical cable. The two battleships will then fire all of their bow turret cannon and self-destruct, destroying the angel."

"Preposterous!

"Preposterous perhaps, but not completely impossible."

Admitting his defeat after seeing his nine ships reduced to six, he gave her the go-ahead and reclined in his seat. The world was different now, he thought shrewdly. Against an unknown enemy, the weapons that once brought fear into the hearts of men did nothing for the colossal beasts. Even stranger still was that it was not hardened soldiers who fought and died with both valor and vain, but children. Children who had probably never even held a revolver or took the life of an enemy, but now rode in mechanical giants, who probably concern more over puppy love than the dying world around them. It was an absurd notion, but the old saying, " the children are the future", never seemed more true or bleak than ever.

"I understand... do as you see fit."

Over the black smoke rising from destroyed ships the screaming sirens and alarms blared, signaling to abandon the two remaining battleships. A single voice boomed above all of them, louder than ever necessary, "All hands, abandon ship! Repeat, all hands, abandon ship!" On the water's surface, numerous lifeboats skimmed the topside, and still the sirens screamed. "All frigates, hurry and rescue the lifeboats!"

The admiral stood near the captain, wondering what made the Evangelion such a force to be reckoned with. "What about the Evangelion? The blast from the turrets and self-destruction would be absolutely devastating."

"Don't worry about them. They'll be just fine."

Rei stood by and looked into the location of the angel, who must have realized the scheming of NERV, and was now leaving the top and returning to the manmade sea floor. She calculated the possibilities. The angel's size, the force of the bow turrets, the umbilical cable's endurance, and the density and pressure of the water near the explosion. Though the plan could work in theory, there was still one variable; the cable. Though powerfully strong, it did have it's limit, limits that could hinder the retrieval process of the Evangelion and its pilots.

"Do you understand the plan, Asuka?"

"Yes ma'am!-- Hey! Don't operate my Unit-02 without my permission!" All that Misato could hear was Asuka's complaints and Shinji's protests and ow's as he was once again pelted by strong yet dainty fists.

"Captain Katsuragi, may I speak to the pilot?"

"Hmm?" The question caused a break in her concentration, but there was still time before the ships were position, so she agreed and handed her the microphone. "Sure." She could only wonder what she would say.

"Shinji."

Shinji looked up at the sound of the voice. "Huh?-- Quit it, Asuka!"

"The force from the blast should be enough to send the Evangelion out of the water, but if umbilical cable should snap during the explosion and you are too deep in the water for the explosion to carry you high enough, you should be close enough to the surface for the Eva to move in the water even without the B-type equipment. You should be able to move enough to land on one of the destroyed carriers."

"I-I got it!"

Misato took the microphone as the ships neared the location. "Can you keep that all in mind you two?"

Both replied simultaneously, "Yes, ma'am!"

Slowly the bottom levels of the two ships were opened then promptly flooded. The waves crashed against the steel hulls, angry as yet more weapons were dumped into it's bowels. Now half-way sunk, the warnings continued. "Both ships have opened the Kingston valve! Scuttle at point Z."

Taking her cue from seeing the dying armada, Misato shouted, "Reverse the cable!" and bit her lip. At her command, the stationary machine reversed the cable and began bringing back the children. The chocking tension of the sudden yank resonated in the water and shook the buildings of the faux Atlantis. The angel was pulled upwards from the murky depths into the brighter blue. True to Rei's predication, the Angel opened it's octopus-like body and slowed the retraction process.

"Eva has started to surface! T-minus 90 to contact!"

"Hey! Are rubbing against me on purpose! Cut it out, pervert!"

"Would you quite complaining! We've got to open it's mouth, or we'll be fish food!"

Life returned to the red titan's body as it's legs pushed against the edge of the angel's mouth and arms pushed back against gums. No matter how much upward pressure was given, the mouth was opening fast enough, and time was running out. Inside, the red orb glowed.

"T-minus 70 to contact!"

"How's it's mouth?" asked Misato.

"It's still not open!" shouted the woman on the intercom. "Both battleships are still sinking towards the target, on course. Eva continues to surface, T-minus 60 to contact!"

"Asuka! It's stuck!"

"There's no time left, only one minute to get this right!" Shinji pulled the controls upward and backward, the controls clicked and broke free from the red force resistor. Now free to strain the Eva beyond it's normal, and safer, operations, Asuka placed her hands over his and pulled. Outside, a large carrier speed by several knots too fast.

The woman over the monitor reported to the captain. "The target has passed beneath the Tempest!"

Misato grit her teeth. "There's no time! Do it!"

Asuka pressed her framed against Shinji and readied herself to pull even harder. "You better not get any strange ideas, pervert!"

Shinji continued to strain as much as he could without slipping off the Throne of the Soul. "Who can think about that at a time like this!"

With their combined strength and the resistor off, the Eva pushed itself against the mouth of the beast and ran it's teeth deeper into the red fortified armor. Harder and harder they strained until the Eva lifted one of it's leg and placed it on the edge of the angel's mouth then continued to push it's back against the chainsaw's razors.

"T-minus 20 to contact!"

'Open! Open! Open! Open!' Shinji felt his shoulder blade's touch one another in his back as he pulled with all the force he could muster. So hard did he pull that he could feel his heart ache from the tension and fear.

"T-minus 15 to contact!"

'Open! Open! Open! Open!' Asuka did not take her eyes off of the glowing orb in the center of the angel's mouth. She channeled all her hate for the beast into the dead center of the ruddy glow.

"T-minus 10 to contact!"

The synchograph inside the entry plug screeched as their combined strength and will forced the synchronization of pilots and Evangelion into triple digits. Like a phoenix from the ashes, the Eva's head lifted inside death's jaws, it's four eyes blazing with as much determination as the four inside of it. With only a little more effort, the Eva spread the jowls of the angel and allow the battleships only meters away to skid past it, and into the orifice, reaving the tusk-like teeth into ivory splinters and shattering through the jawbone. And so the Valkyrie carried the fallen enemy to Valhalla.

Without missing her cue, Misato yelled, "Fire!"

The battleship's organ's sang in unison as valley after volley of explosives were shot into the belly of the beast, expanding the sharkskin body of the angel to an impossible size, before exploding into flesh shrapnel.

True to Ayanami's predication, though the explosion was immense, they were too far deep to completely make it to the top. They could both see it; the painfully close rays of light that pierced the ocean's surface, so close it seemed almost tangible, but still not enough. But all hope was not lost. Remembering Rei's advice, Shinji looked to his left to see the bottom of a sinking frigate, and the Eva shifted in the water. Together they began descending, getting closer and closer, inch by inch, until the Unit-02 grabbed the side of the control tower and began pulling upward.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Eva Unit-02 has not made surface contact!"

The water was thin enough for the Eva to move, but dense enough to slow it's movements to a tortoise's pace. As they willed it so, the Eva was climbed higher and higher, it's movements became faster and more agile, passing above the sea level in a matter of painful seconds. The sun never looked brighter, and the sky never looked bluer as it did that very moment. Looking down, the Eva saw the water returning to fill in the gap that was created by the explosion, but the faux Atlantis was still vaguely visible below, but quickly disappeared in the manmade rain that now fell.

Asuka looked at her fallen enemy with pride. She had done it. The only thing that was left was to hold out until the Over the Rainbow neared the sinking Udaloy. 'Only 40 seconds left... I wonder if it'll be enough.'

"Well that was easy! I barely broke a sweat," gloated Asuka. She looked down to see Shinji collapsed over her. Naturally he was just trying to rub up against her; since no male, no matter how intellectual, could ever stop themselves from acting like the horny animals they were, so she took the most polite course of action she could muster. "Get off of me, you pervert!" She shoved him off of her, successfully waking him from his stupor.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"What? Besides you trying get a feel!"

"I was not! I was just tired..." He discreetly whipped at the corner of his mouth.

"I guess I should suspect as much from the pilot of the test-type" she said teasingly.

"Oh, shut-up. We gotta jump onto the ship now. Only 18 seconds left."

With the last bit of power left inside of the internal batteries, the Evangelion left from the sinking ship and landed as gracefully as the first time it sprung to life with it's cloak in hand. The Valkyrie's red armor shone in the sea sun, promising more than just one outstanding battle in it's lifetime. Slowly it's glowing eyes dimmed and the humanoid machine slumped over on the aircraft carrier.

It was over, and the sea regained the little serenity it once had.

--

Shinji stepped out of the shower stall and dried himself. It had been a tough day at 'work', and though the worst part was over, there was still the future to expect. After they had arrived at the Port at New Yokosuka, he had to face Touji and Kensuke in that female type plug suit. Needless to say they had their fair amount of laughs and taunts, that much was expected, but it seemed a bit much for Kensuke to film it all. Rei didn't understand what was so funny about it, but that was a good thing, he guessed. Asuka didn't laugh, but that was probably due to her being so happy with her first victory against the angels.

Shinji put on his school uniform and walked out of the locker room, all the while wishing that he could be that enthusiastic about being a pilot. He only hoped that he had been of some help to the new pilot, Asuka Langley Soryu. The angels could always become more of a challenge.

He wanted to return home after he and Asuka talked to Ritsuko. Apparently they had broken their synchronization record by a lot, even got into the lower hundreds; an impressive feat, even if it was only for seven seconds, Ritsuko assured them. Even though that was the end of the conversation, and Asuka was dragged away by Misato to find her a suitable hotel, Shinji stepped out of her office only to return moments later.

The faux blonde placed the mug of coffee that was so close to her lips onto the table and looked at the teenager. "Is there something else you wanted to talk about, Shinji?" she inquired.

"Yeah... I just wanted to say sorry." He rubbed the back of his head, running his fingers through his hair once more.

She raised her eyebrow. "Sorry? About what?"

"Well, about the way I was bothering you when Mayumi was hurt. I know I was annoying and all, but I couldn't really help it, you know? If anything I was probably just slowing you down from what you had to do." He sighed as his guilt over something that happened weeks ago was only slightly lifted.

Ritsuko sighed and smiled at the diffident young child before her. "Don't worry about it, Shinji. I understand that you were just worried about her. Personally, if I was her, I would be flattered. I wasn't that lucky with male companions when I was younger."

Shinji smiled sheepishly at her and placed his hand on the door of her office. "Thanks. I'll see you later, Dr. Akagi." He turned the knob and walked out of her office, happy that that was now off of his conscious.

Ritsuko looked at the door for a few seconds after Shinji's leaving. She sighed and took a slip from the hot coffee, before returning to her work and trying put behind what was already set to take place.

Shinji left her office and walked towards the monorails that would take him home. It was only midday, so school was still in session and the sun was still shining brightly in the blue blue skies. He felt like going to school, just to see if he could be graced by her appearance, but he didn't want to leave Rei walking home alone. He honestly didn't know if she appreciated it, but he would keep doing so until told otherwise, it seemed like the only thing he could give to her for saving his sorry ass.

So he walked towards the monorails in search for his mysterious friend, first going to the female locker room, then the Eva cages, and finally the monorail itself. He was surprised to see her reading her textbook in the station, silently flipping through the pages, waiting for his arrival. It was unexpected to say the least. The meek boy walked up to her and sat down on the stone bench next to her. She closed her book and got up.

Shinji blinked. "Umm... hi, Rei."

"Hello, Shinji."

He felt like slapping his forehead for the bluntness of their conversations. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Yes." Her eyes stayed the same passive red.

"Sorry I made you wait so long, I had to speak with Ritsuko about something."

She nodded and looked at the waiting monorail. "Shall we leave?"

He blinked once more then stood up. "S-Sure."

The ride to the surface world was quite, but not unpleasant. Shinji reached into his duffel bag, retrieved his SDAT player and placed the ear buds snuggly into his ears. The classical sounds and instrumentals filled his ears, distracting him from the world around him with the exception of the blue-haired girl in front of him. He kept the volume low, in the unlikely event that she may speak to him; wishful thinking, but not impossible. The ride ended quickly enough, so both rose from their seats and walked to the exit.

Shinji finally made his decision, he would attend the last part of class, endure the teacher's talk about Second Impact, and hope that the girls that constantly kept Mayumi company would allow her to speak to him. But he didn't know where Rei would go. She would probably go home and do whatever it is that she does, but he wasn't sure.

"Say, Rei, where are you going right now?"

She looked at her shoes as they kept their same pace. "I am not sure."

"Well, I'm going to school, since I'm pretty sure that's where Touji and Kensuke are. And I kinda wanted to talk with Mayumi and Aiko." He scratched his cheek and smiled blushingly. "If your going home, I'll walk with you the rest of the way."

Rei considered this and what she would do at her apartment, nothing, and decided it would be in her best interest to return to school. Without the Commander, there was nothing to do, after all. "That won't be necessary. I'll return to school as well."

"Alright, well then let's get going. Lunch should almost be over by now, so we can make it to the rest of the day if we hurry," he commented while looking at his cell phone. Watches never felt right on his wrists anyway.

Without further hesitation both students ran towards their school, hoping to kill some time and their boredom. It didn't take long to reach the school, taking the clean alleys of Tokyo-3 and cutting through the usually empty parks helped in that. Out of breath, they arrived almost as soon as the bell rang to signal the students to return to class.

Today had it's good side, she thought. Though his friends Suzuhara and Aida weren't there today, and he himself had missed the first half the school day, it appeared that he decided to come for the second half of school. It wasn't like him to miss school, except when he was injured from an Eva battle, so she had assumed he would be at NERV Headquarters all day, fortunately she was pleasantly wrong. Her friends around started to giggle and tease about her and her relationship with the coy student, even her annoying sister Aiko, but it didn't last long as they would rather see what would happen between them.

Shinji stood in the hallway and spoke to Hikari, informing her about why he was so late. She smiled cheerfully as she always did after being assured that he was fine. Much to the older Yamagishi's surprise, along side Shinji stood the blue-haired girl which had become the source of her greatest insecurity. It wasn't enough that Ayanami was also a pilot and as a result spent a lot of time with the boy, but, according to her little sister, they had become friends. The vagueness of that statement is what hurt her the most. If they were friends, fellow pilot, and spending time outside of school in general, she already spent more time with her boyfriend than she had. This, to Mayumi Yamagishi, was unacceptable.

She fumed discreetly in her seat and thought out a course of action. She wasn't big on confrontation, and she didn't really feel like talking to the blue-haired girl anymore than she did now, so she had to talk to him when he was alone, maybe after school?

'Yeah, after school would be perfect. Suzuhara and Aida aren't here, I don't have clean-up duty, and if I say I'm going to see Shinji and that I need privacy, and promise to tell them what happened later, I can slip away from Tsukiko, Kohana, and the others. Aiko won't bother, and even if she does it doesn't matter much,' she schemed in her mind.

She looked at him as he took his seat, and waved and smiled back weakly as he smiled and looker her way.

The rest of the day went by as expected; a mundane explanation of how Second Impact took place and the years of still continuing reconstruction. Normally a topic such as this is was exciting or thought-provoking about mankind's future, or the very least interesting, but the topic had already been bludgeon to death. The old fart was starting to wear her down. Mayumi sank in her seat and quickly rose, life once again returning to her russet eyes, at the sound of the dismissal bell.

Hikari rose from her seat and announced whatever it was that she said once the school day was over and dismissed the class. Mayumi packed her things and tried to hurry up calmly before Shinji left. It was funny how things tend to never happen as planned. Once she stuffed her bag with the day's contents, she watched to her disappointment Shinji being dragged out of the classroom by the two students which had now become a variable in her plan. She sighed angrily and followed discreetly as possible. 'Why did they come here if they skipped school?'

Shinji sighed and tried his best to understand why he was following the two friends in front of him. True, he appreciated the offer of going to the arcade, but he didn't feel up to it. 'But it would be rude of me to just say no, wouldn't it?' he reasoned hesitantly. He looked to his left to see his blue-haired companion. "Want to come with, Rei?" Touji and Kensuke didn't say she couldn't come along, and they probably wouldn't mind anyway.

Rei would have liked to join him to the arcade, and any other place in truth, but she disliked the large crowds of people, flashing lights, and distracting buzzing and whizzes that the machines featured. And she doubted that she could really speak to him in such a chaotic scene, she reasoned. She shook her head. "No. I'll just go report to NERV HQ."

Kensuke looked back at their conversation and grinned stupidly. 'They seem to be getting along. I'd never figure Shinji to be a lady-killer.'

"Do you want me to walk you there? It's not that far out of the way," he offered.

"That is not necessary." They reached the school gate and she turned to him before leaving. "I'll see you later, Shinji." And she left without another word.

The three boys looked on as the stoic Ayanami left, one of which felt bad for not at least not walking with her, even if he was told not to. It felt like he had to, like a responsibility he enjoyed; even if they didn't talk much throughout their path, it was pleasant. With a sigh and a heavy heart he ran his hand through his hair, then turned to face his other friends.

Touji placed his arm around Ikari and began his interrogation. "So what was dat about?"

"Huh?" he stammered, "Whadda you mean 'what was dat about'?"

Kensuke raised his glasses and smirked at his ability to spot nuances. "Well, she talked to you for one thing. She's never said anything to anyone in class, but now she's talking to you, even on the Over the Rainbow she talked to you and no one else besides Misato; your even pulling out chairs for her!"

Unbeknownst to them, Mayumi was catching up at a calm pace. She stopped and gulped hard when she heard Kensuke. 'He's pulling out... for her..?' She refused to get jealous over something as little as that. She swallowed her insecurity and reasoned that he was just that chivalrous; but she wouldn't reveal herself just yet. She needed to hear more.

"Somethin' happened between youse, didn't it?" Touji said slyly

Shinji sighed, knowing exactly where this conversation was going. "Nothing like what your trying to say."

Kensuke raised his clawed hands upward and let the glint of the sun reflect off his glasses. "Dammit, Ikari gets all the good parts. Can't you just be satisfied with having Yamagishi and living with a beauty woman like Misato..?" He turned his gaze when they arrived at the arcade. "Hey, Touji-- look!"

All three turned to see a girl in a yellow sundress bending over to insert a coin into the UFO Catcher machine. Her long red hair flowed onto and past her shoulders, hanging just above the her knees when she was inserting the coin. Touji and Kensuke both gawked at the beau ideal before them.

"Whoa, what a babe!"

Kensuke clasped his hands together. "She's totally my type. She's like some young star!"

Both shot death glares at Shinji when he attempted to see to the cause of their gawking. Their 'lady-killer Ikari' was not going to luckily stumble his way into this girl's life. He already was hanging around too many attractive women for his own good. Touji pushed the top of his head away from the scene in front of him. "Ikari! Your not allowed ta look!"

"Ack! What's the big deal!"

Both lecherous young boys bent down and tried their best to get a peek under the soft yellow fabric of the sundress to the white cotton beneath. Shinji refused to do something so desperate, so he deadpanned at his friends' lewd behavior; when it suddenly hit him. The yellow sundress, the red hair, the panties-- it was Soryu! "G-G-Guys!"

Too late. The redhead looked on in anger as the claw dropped the novelty stuffed bear dropped back into the pile of trinkets. "ACH! Scheibe!" she yelled with a forceful kick towards the offending machine. "What's wrong with this damn machine!"

Touji and Kensuke stepped back in horror as the face and steel-blue eyes of the beauty settled on them. Her anger turned into a frown as Touji and Kensuke attempted to step away.

"Hey! What are you idiots looking at?"

All three raised their hands in defense. "Nuttin'!"

She inspected the three idiots from before and place her hand outward. "Gimme 100 yen."

Touji looked at her in confusion. "Huh? 100 Yen? What the hell for?"

"I'm out of tokens. It's not much-- 100 each." She placed a hand on her hip and the other forward.

Touji, now fed up with her attitude, yelled, "You crazy? Why do we have ta--"

"It's a peeping fee. You saw my panties, didn't you? It's either that or another slap to your ugly mugs."

"N-Not yet!"

"Oh Puh-lease! Don't tell me you don't have any money on you." She raised her nose and looked at the jock as if he wasn't worth her attention. "Of course, if you are broke, that could explain the way you dress. Pathetic."

Touji grabbed the strap of his shoulder bag. "Ya bleach-brained bitch! Whadidysay?" He stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. "Don't ya get on your high horse 'cause ya think your cute!"

"Ewww! Don't touch me, monkeyboy! Let me go!" She stumbled back and bumped someone behind her.

"AAAH! NO!"

The three boys' jaws dropped as they looked at the tattooed, beatnik-looking man scream at the game over on the arcade machine. Asuka merely looked back and said, "Ooops! Sorry."

The gruff man, vein in forehead, poked Asuka in her collar, who merely looked up at him with curiosity, "You think sorry's gonna cut it! Finally got to the last level! Whatcha gonna do 'bout that, huh!"

Shinji and Kensuke pushed Touji forward. "He's got your accent, do something!"

"W-What does dat haveta do with anythin'!"

The tattooed man held and lifted the redhead's chin. "Yeah, you gonna be sorry!"

With the speed of a lioness, Asuka thrust her foot upward, kicking the man square in his nose, knocking him to the Plexiglas and glowing neon lights. He rubbed his nose and said, "Y-Y-You... bitch!" Asuka deadpanned at the repulsive male and brought her foot down, as if hitting him wasn't worth the scuff on her shoes.

From behind the downed man came three equally stupid-looking males, each at least three years older than the redheaded lionhearted nymph. Shinji gulped and knew that, if she needed help, he would have to help out; his conscious wouldn't let him do otherwise.

Asuka folded her arms and frowned. 'Hrmph. Calling for back-up-- against a kid..! How juvenile,' she thought indignantly. She needed to get the first strike or she would be overpowered. The nymph pointed behind the three offending idiots. "Oh, look!"

As planned, the three looked back, allowing time for the lionhearted girl to strike. With her swift legs, she stepped forward and kicked the closest guy between his legs, sidestepped and rammed her slim elbow into another's spleen. Her bright saxe blue eyes kept track of everyone in front of her, and her mind's eye predicted the others' location; so she slammed her fist backward and into the third one's face.

Amidst the flailing arms, legs, and fists, Touji and Kensuke tried their best to leave the fracas in the arcade. Touji pulled Ikari by his arm, seeing as how he was too busy just looking at the fight. It was at this time that Mayumi turned the corner and saw what was going on.

All three boys were pulled back by three more, one of which was at least eighteen years old.

"Wait up!"

"Where d'ya think you're goin'? We're not through with you yet."

"W-Wait!" stammered Touji, "We got nuttin' to do with dis!"

The oldest one stepped forward and aimed for the, in his opinion, weakest punk out of the three, "Shut yer mouths!" With a step forward, he punched Ikari straight in the jaw, knocking him off balance but not to the floor.

"Shinji!" screamed a girl's voice, his head throbbing too much to recognize the owner. The boy was pulled forward by his shirt's collar, and he grit his teeth, hoping that he could at least move his head with the punch.

Asuka looked back at the voice of the scream and looked towards the boy who had helped him defeat the marine angel. She ran forward, raised her arms and cart wheeled before spinning on her palm on the hard glowing Plexiglas and somersaulting twice, finishing by slamming her heel upward into the older teenager's chin. He fell gracelessly onto his ass and stayed on the floor, rubbing underneath his chin.

Shinji rubbed his cheek and looked on as Asuka continued to embarrass the roughnecks with her fists and a metal stool.

"You freaking bitch! Where'd you come from, the circus!"

Asuka brought the stool down onto the back of the last standing, or present, idiot. "And you call yourselves men! Where are your balls!" The older teenager managed to get up and grab her by wrist and stomp down onto one of her shoes. "Let go, you bastard!" Shinji looked at the teen and his eyes narrowed; he was going hit her. With no forethought, he slammed his foot into the back of the man's left knee, freeing Asuka's foot, and allowing her to shove her heel into his chest.

In the distance, the wailing sirens could be heard, and unlike so many other times, it was the police. Asuka looked at the direction of the sirens. "Ach, the cops! See ya, Third Child! Gotta get back to NERV!" With that, she ran off through the streets of Tokyo-3, and the older teens that could get up ran as well.

From out of nowhere, Shinji felt slender fingers at his shoulder and numb cheek. The cool hands rubbed against his cheek gently, but rough against his shoulder. He looked back and saw Mayumi's face, her eyes full of concern and surprise, so at least he knew the roughness was out purely out of shock. "S-Shinji! What happened! Are you alright?"

He placed a hand over hers, over his cheek, and nodded. Touji lifted him up quickly, rushing him to hurry and gather himself. "Don't sleep there! We gotta get outta here, dey'll think it's all our fault! Let's go!"

The four students rushed away towards nowhere, only caring that the siren's wail was too far away to catch their ears. Touji huffed and tugged at his shoulder bag. "I think we've gotten far enough." He looked towards his lightly bruised friend. "Ikari, ya okay?"

Shinji deadpanned with sarcasm. "Uh, yeah... just peachy."

Kensuke pat his friend on the back. "That was a nice move on your part though, kicking that idiot in the back of his knee, I mean. That was so cool!"

Mayumi frowned and continued to look at his bruise, and gently poked at it. Shinji winced and sighed. "Shinji, what the hell was all that about anyway? I just saw a bunch of people start fighting with some redheaded girl, and then you getting hit by some jerk-- did I miss something?"

Shinji rubbed the back of his head; with Asuka around, this was going to be something he had to get use to, he thought. "Just a pilot picking a fight with some people."

"Why would you do that!" her fingers tightened on his shoulder.

Kensuke stepped forward, and said, "It wasn't him, it was the other pilot, the redheaded girl."

"The red..?" It suddenly sparked in her mind. "The redhead? But why would she start a fight with so many--"

Once again the sirens wailed, signaling the nearby police. Shinji didn't have much to worry about, he was the vaunted Third Child, but his friends did not have his legal immunity. He handed Mayumi his house keys, and she looked at him with the those same confused eyes. "I'm not sure whether they might be after you too, and I don't want you to get in trouble with your mom, so you can stay at my house until you think it's clear, okay?" He looked at Kensuke and Touji. "Take her to my apartment, will ya? It shouldn't be too far off from your houses."

Touji looked at him, reevaluating him and the unexpected action. "Huh..? Yeah, sure."

Kensuke grinned at the mission that was just handed to him. "Don't worry, we'll get her to safety!" He saluted the young pilot and grabbed the girl's wrist. Shinji sighed at the otaku's military obsession, but thanked him anyway.

Mayumi kept looking at him, never looking away from his deep navy eyes as he smiled at her and left. She would have protested, but NERV didn't allowed civilians to just walk on in. She only entered when Shinji had placed her in the medical center and when he wanted her inside during an angel attack. Now she was hiding out at his place because she was near some brawl and he didn't want her to get in trouble with her mother. She couldn't help but smile as all three of them ran towards Shinji's apartment.

--

Minutes later, Shinji walked down one of the many corridors that made up NERV Headquarters, rubbing his bruised cheek sporadically, making sure it wouldn't be anything permanent. He sighed and walked towards his destination. "How'd I manage to be the one only one who got punched? Then again, I shouldn't be that surprised about it..."

"What's wrong with this damn machine!" A female voice shouted.

Shinji let his head hang low and pulled out his ID card; he recognized the angry yet distinctly feminine voice, and he assumed that the machine wasn't letting in the Second Child. He turned the corner and, sure enough, he saw the same red mane and yellow sundress he had already gotten use to seeing this day.

"They just issued this card! Why won't it take it?" She continued stomping on the ID swiper. "Take that! And that!"

Shinji walked next to her and slide his ID card through the machine, turning the red beep into a green hum. Asuka looked at the boy and smiled mischievously at him. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the great Third Child."

"Hey, Soryu--"

"Don't gimme that crap. It's Asuka. Pilots should address themselves as such." She once again placed her hands on her hips. "So what are you waiting for? Misato's expecting us."

Misato, Rei, and Ritsuko stood inside the command center, Misato smiled at both of the pilots as they walked towards her; whether she planned to tease Shinji later or not probably had a part in that expression. Her smile disappeared when she looked at the tinge of gray on Shinji's cheek. "Shin-chan, what happened? Where'd the bruise come from? You trip in the shower?"

"Huh? Oh, thi-this was..." he gulped. He didn't want to say anything, since he didn't want to be scolded by the split personality within his captain, nor did he want to put Mayumi in trouble. Unrepentantly, Asuka saved his conscious from dealing with a lie.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Did that happen while I wasn't looking?" Asuka, with a face and voice full of schoolgirl innocence, turned towards her captain. "Some punks were picking on me while I was in the city, and Shinji happened to come by and saved me!"

Shinji looked confused until he felt the sharp pain in his rear end. Asuka was practically pinching the flesh off of him. "Er..!"

Ritsuko turned away from her protégée and raised her eyebrow incredulously. "Shinji saved you?" she turned to the young pilot and smiled at the strange situation. "I'd never expect something like that from you, Shinji."

He rubbed the back of his head as Misato raised her hand to her chin. "Well, I know that Shinji's not exactly anti-chivalry, but even that seems so unlike you..."

Asuka pinched harder and faked yet another schoolgirl smile. "I'm very grateful! Pilots have to stick together on and off the field, after all." She turned her deadpanned eyes towards him then turned away before pinching harder. She whispered, "Snitch and I'll make you pay for it, Third Child."

Shinji bit his lip as she stopped pinching. 'Oh yeah, she's psycho...'

Rei, who had been standing next to Misato, looked downward at Shinji's slightly twitching leg and back at him when his face relaxed and Asuka's hand left from behind him. She raised her eyebrow and decided to ask him about it later.

--

Mayumi walked cautiously into the home of Shinji Ikari. Quietly, she slipped her shoes off and placed them daintily near the front door. Even though she was positive no one besides her was currently inside the building, she proceeded with full caution. She looked around the familiar room as if it was the first time she gazed upon the tidy place. She looked at the couch which she and Aiko shared with mixed feelings. Though it brought back fond memories, it also reminded her of the orange glow which, for some unknown reason, caused her heart to beat against her ribs; even worse so, how she had nearly destroyed the young boy's affection towards her.

She sighed tiredly and sat on the large couch, and allowed herself the simple pleasure of sprawling her legs and arms across it. She traced the floor with her foot and wiped the corner of her eyes with her fingertips. She wasn't particularly tired, but after running around so much the fading strength in her legs got to the rest of her body.

Touji and Kensuke had left towards their homes about a block away from Shinji's place, but by then the sirens had become nothing more than a far away annoyance. Still, she wanted to enter his house, if only for nostalgic reasons. It had been so long since she actually had a chance to have a real conversation with him that it was starting to annoy her. She missed his gentle mumblings and his attempts to suppress the blushes that occurred whenever she so much as held his hand. She thought it cute, and she missed it.

Without realizing it, sleep took her.

--

Beneath the layers of steel and ferroconcrete, Gendo Ikari stood inside his office, the faint orange glow of the strange symmetrical symbols haunting the dim room, smirking at the success of the operation. The unshaven man that stood in front of him had a smirk as well, though he doubted that it was for the same reason he allowed himself the rare sign of emotion. He strolled over the distance between the stainless steel door to the single desk in the sizable room and placed a heavy suitcase onto it. The thick armor surrounding the case was proof of the immeasurable value of it's content.

"I'm afraid it was an eventful voyage," began the agent, "I never though we'd run into an angel at sea. And during the transportation of the Eva and," he patted the hard case, "this, no less. So, was it because of this..?"

With a soft click the painted CAUTION sign was split in half. The man smirked once more. "Quite an amazing little cargo. In suspended animation for now," he looked at the open case and the small fetus inside the solid transparent orange block, "but it's definitely alive. This is it, isn't it? The key to your Instrumentality Project..."

For a brief second, the man's orange tinted glasses did not reflect the dim glow, allowing his eyes to be fully seen. "That's right. Your holding the enigma that was the source of Second Impact. This... this is Adam."

Everything was going according to the new scenario. Adam and the angel's core which dwelled near the girl's heart were under his control; and so, his glasses gleamed that menacing flame. "Everything will go as planned."

--

To be continued.

--

Author's Notes: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to an acquaintance of mine. She's not really a friend per say, but I help her out when she needs it and we say what's up every once in a while. She recently lost an important person in her life and I can't talk to her until after spring break, so this is the very least I can do. I would have made something to do with Mayumi's mother, as it would have been more fitting, but I don't have enough time to do so anytime soon, but I won't forget to do so. (It's things like this that get me angry at the cures and treatments that the government won't allow to be patented-- by casual threat of death --since the money is not in the cure. It's not paranoid, just do research outside the U.S. to learn something more.)

It won't do anything, but I consider this is a small token of gratitude for the small positive changes she has made in my life.

By the way, forgive me for the grammar. Don't have too much time to comb through it, later.

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy. Don't sue, cause I'm already broke. You'll probably lose money in the process, too.

Thank you for all the reviews, even the bad ones.

They are all very appreciated and are used to make sure you enjoy and understand my piece.

This is the ninth chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

Hikari Horaki got up from the comfort of her all too soft bed and opened the cold-to-the-touch glass door leading into the balcony of her room. It had become a habit even before she knew it was one, since habits had a tendency to form imperceptibly from out the blue, and she was beginning to enjoy the gentle caress of the crystalline night air through her ankles and thin legs. The warm covers were always there to offer her a warm escape, just behind the clear glass, so the cool breeze was all the more embracing.

She sighed and leaned onto one arm as she sat cross-legged on the balcony, and wondered if her friend felt like that with Shinji-- to have to deal with all of her life issues, since she was now close enough to Mayumi to become a confidant of sorts, and have a shoulder to lean on. Like the night air that almost seemed to breath with the moon in front of her tawny gaze, it felt cold and soothing. She was no fool, of course, she was well aware that she was living her would-be romantic life through Mayumi, but, aside from her infatuation with her childhood friend Touji, she had no way to release her simple desires for hugs, kisses, and hand holding, and as result had a very quixotic view on life. Knowing this, she still couldn't help, nor deny it.

She had received a phone call from Mayumi earlier that day and was informed about the strange occurrence. Hikari didn't exactly approve of running from the police, but she agreed that Mayumi really had no choice, since she was with innocence, but to run. The humorous part about it was how Mayumi still manage to get herself in trouble with her mother, falling asleep as she did in Shinji's house, even when she had a hideout. Even though it was on the mean side, she laughed when she heard how Shinji and Ms. Katsuragi entered their apartment to find Mayumi sprawled all over their couch; and then Shinji having to explain why she was there brought all the more sweeter laughter. She was sure Ms. Katsuragi was teasing him all night.

With the moon at full bloom and the breeze becoming a bit too cold for the pale of her legs, Hikari got up, opened the glass door and stepped back into the tepid room. The change in temperature gently shook her frame as she laid down beneath her covers. Yes, she thought, she would sleep comfortably that night, with the open balcony.

--

"Yeah, she's psycho... but at least she's a good pilot."

It was bright and sunny day in Tokyo-3, with sun, cool wind and all the makings of an adventurous day. The children went about to their seats to prepare for another day of school, and it was within the walls of the school that the news was received. Touji and Kensuke both stood next to Ikari and discussed prior events of the day.

"For such a babe she sure is a bitch..."

While Shinji agreed as much with Touji, he still didn't really like calling her that, even in his mind he found it wrong to disrespect another. "Don't call her that. She's just... just..."

Kensuke folded his arms and pondered out loud. "I wonder if only weirdoes get chosen to be pilots..."

Touji scratched his nose at the sudden realization. "Well... we'll probably never see her again." He laughed heartily and patted Shinji on his shoulder. "But hey! It's your jay-oh-bee, so you can't help it! I feel for ya."

Shinji smirked and waited.

On cue, the door to the classroom slid open the reveal the phoenix of pilots standing with placid surprise on her face. Shinji smiled at his desk when Touji and Kensuke's jaws dropped; It was his subtle revenge. He knew that she was on her way, he felt it in his gut, and, for once, his instincts were right and useful. Without looking upward he waved to his fellow pilot. "Hello, Asuka."

She blinked and responded cheerfully. "Oh... You three are all in the same class?" Within the second she returned to herself, "Losers! Nyaah!" She stuck our her tongue and waved back. Knowing no better way to make a grand opening, she got in front of the class and wrote her name large and eloquently. "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed, I'm sure."

Touji and Kensuke's forehead slammed downward onto their desks and Shinji sighed as she walked to her seat next to him, and was gawked at by the whole classroom. He looked around as she gracefully sat down and looked at him with a schoolgirl smile, somehow knowing that there was some scheming going on inside that skull of hers'. She flicked his forehead and kept her smile. "Oww..."

"How's it going, Shinji? I'm sure we'll get along quite nicely." Her words were all too honeyed to be truthful or well intentioned. Shinji faced towards the board, but did not make the full turn, something had caught his attention-- Mayumi, who sat so far in the back, was biting her lip and fidgeting her fingers together. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but that would probably cause some unwanted attention on her.

All around the classroom comments and whispers of Asuka's cuteness, long legs, and golden-red hair were heard clearly, but she ignored them all the same. And the day went on.

It was near the end of the day and the old teacher still lectured on while the class was half asleep. "In the first year of the twenty-first century, a large meteorite collided with Antarctica..."

Shinji twirled his pen in-between his fingers and looked towards the source of many of the boy's attention. He thought it over, pen in hand, and came to his conclusion. 'I guess she is cute, if all your looking for is looks...'

"...melting the ice cap and raising the sea level sixty meters..."

'...but, I wonder why she acts the way she does, it's strange...'

"There was an onslaught of heavy weather, and the economic panic that ensued..."

'Even if she's a difficult-- yeah, difficult's the word--, I'm glad we have another pilot. And she's good too.' He twirled his pen too hard and it fell near Asuka's heel. "Oops."

She coughed softly and looked downward. She picked up the pen and took hold of Shinji's hand. "Here!"

"Huh? Oh... thanks." His gratitude was turned into regretful thoughts. He opened his hand to confirm what she had done, and true to his dread the pen did not fall. That's what gum does after all. He deadpanned and shook his hand. "I take that back! Arrgh!"

--

"God, that was soooo boring!" Asuka stride down the halls of NERV HQ towards the locker room in order to prepare for some even more tedious synchronization tests. The mundane task of sitting down for hours on end was never something she did well, and she felt that today would be no different. "Japanese schools are so dull. What low standards!"

Shinji tried his best to ignore the increasing number of rants from the girl adjacent to him. "Not my fault."

"And is that teacher stupid or what? He actually bought all that government disinformation!"

Shinji looked back at her statement. "Huh?"

There was a brief moment where Asuka's eye seemed to question whether his brain worked or not. "Don't tell me you don't know! You don't know the truth about Second Impact!"

He felt a tugging in the back of his head, an intangible and indescribable instinct to press forward, by sentiment or sudden fancy he couldn't tell, but still he indulged in the desire to know simply for its sake. "The truth..? You mean it wasn't caused by a giant meteorite evaporating Antarctica?"

Asuka laughed, even blushed, at the boy's naiveté. "You don't know anything, do you? And you call yourself the Third Child?"

Shinji looked down in a defiant defeat. He couldn't say anything, since he wished to know.

"Okay. Want me to tell you? Fifteen years ago, at the turn of the century, a humanoid object, termed the first "angel", was found in Antarctica. During the probe there was an enormous explosion of unknown origin. The blast was strong enough to completely melt the polar ice cap within seconds. That was the real Second Impact..." Shinji stood and absorbed all he could, shocked that he believed the lies told by the government; and still she continued, "And our duty as pilots of the Evangelions is to prevent a Third Impact from ever happening! And the only way to do that is to defeat the angels."

He looked down at his shoes and allowed himself to take in everything at once. Unfortunately, Asuka would not allow that to happen gracefully. "So they kept you ignorant of the most important facts? Unbelievable!" she teased insensitively.

"Excuse me..." A monotonous voice came softly from behind the gloating redhead. "Could I get by?" Ayanami strolled calmly by the two pilots, which annoyed the redhead for some reason or another.

"Hey! Wait a sec, First Child!"

Rei turned towards her. "Now what?"

"I hear..." she began immaturely, "... that you're Commander Ikari's pet... Even though you're as frigid as a stone," she added with a bit more blade than intended.

The blue-haired girl turned away. "And what business is that of yours?"

Asuka walked towards her and grabbed her shoulder. "Look at me when I'm talking to you! Don't make a fool of me just because your the current favorite!"

Shinji quickly ran behind Asuka and grabbed her wrist before she caused another fight. "Cut it out, Asuka!"

She stopped, surprised by the sudden jerking of her arm, and looked crossly at him. "I see... so that's how it is, huh? Well I'll leave you and your cold little girlfriend alone then!" She snatched her wrist back and stomped her foot. "Hrmph! Losers!" She ran away from both of them, to nowhere in particular, just away from them.

Shinji looked as the red hair disappeared into the grey distance, then at the blue-haired girl next to him. He knew she wasn't hurt, but he still passed a careful eye on her shoulder, just in case. "I... I think she got the wrong idea. I hope that we'll be able to get along with her."

She turned her placid gaze towards the door mechanical door that closed in the distance, and said, "I don't know. But If I'm ordered to-- I will."

--

He came from behind her, wrapping his arms around her slim shoulders and letting his palms hang dangerously close to her chest. Startled, the doctor ceased typing, much to the man's intent, but relaxed when she felt the stingy prick of Kaji's unshaven beard. "Still a world-class workaholic, eh, Ritsuko?" She smiled in bliss and leaned against her chair, and the man continued. "By the looks of things, you don't even have a boyfriend yet, do you?"

She turned her head and rid the bliss of her smile, but kept her coyness, "Kaji. It's been awhile."

He ran his hand near her chin and caressed the teardrop mole underneath her left eye with his thumb. "The men of NERV have surely lost theirs-- to leave a rose like you so lonely. It's a sad thing, isn't it?"

She laughed nostalgically, and said, "You haven't changed at all, Kaji."

He turned her head towards him, "Perhaps I should be the one who gets to see you at full bloom..?"

She flustered at his seductiveness, but kept her cool. "You say that, but you don't really mean it." She moved his hand off of her shoulder. "So... it'd be best if you moved that hand, because there's a very scary lady watching our every move."

Kaji's eyes nearly came out of their sockets when he heard a book close behind the corner of the room. "Unbelievable!" Misato cornered the lecherous agent of NERV. "Why are you always like this! You're always a such a lecher, you idiot!"

"It's my prerogative!" he defended.

Ritsuko took a sip of her coffee. "Take it outside."

"Besides," he started, "what do you have to get mad about? I thought there was nothing more between us." He winked slyly at her, and said, "Unless... you haven't gotten over little-o'-me?"

Misato bit her lip as the vein in her forehead grew. Not being able to take his presence anymore, she grabbed his shoulder and slammed against the wall. "Fuck you!"

Kaji slumped against the wall and stared in disbelief at the force her thin arms were able to put out. Misato turned away and grumbled, "Even if I was young, it was the worst mistake in my life to go out with you!"

Returning to his prior-self, Kaji smiled and followed as she began walking out of the room. "Don't be so upset-- you wouldn't want to get wrinkles on that pretty mug of yours."

"SHUT UP!"

Out of the blue, the sirens began to wail across the whole of NERV. The three adults turned towards the source of the sound. "Now what?"

Misato tugged at her red flight jacket. "It's an another angel, probably." She ran towards the commander center without another word.

"Pattern blue! It's definitely an angel!"

The sub commander, Fuyutsuki, yelled over the intercom, "Level one battle stations! All Evangelion pilots! Prepare to sortie!"

Outside of NERV HQ, on the shores which lined Tokyo-3, multiple UN forces headed towards the arriving angels. Helicopters with air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles dotted the blues skies and white clouds. Tanks and, most importantly, large umbilical cable transports rushed down the empty highways towards the beach. It was that time again.

"Tokyo-3's intercept system is still under repair from the last alert! We're only at 26 effectiveness... for practical purposes, that's zero." Misato turned on the communications to the only two battle-ready Evangelions-- Unit-00 would not be used before it was completely repaired, a hard lesson learned from a past angel attack --and continued her report. "We've got to intercept the target on the water front-- before it gets ashore! Understand!" Unit-01 and 02 will attack the target in turns. Close combat regs."

Beneath the earth, the purple and red Evangelions were shuttled through the catapults at high speed, waiting for the time of detriment. "We'll power up the Evas when you reach the surface."

Asuka chimed, "Okay! Sure thing, Misato!"

Shinji frowned and darkened at the sudden change in the pilots action. "Oh, great. I wonder what personality this one is?"

His com opened up to show Asuka's stern face. "I heard that, Third. I'm really all they need for this... just try to not get in my way, maggot," she finished with a gloating smirk, to which Shinji looked away and rolled his eyes. 'The spiteful one, I guess...'

Both Evangelions shot out from beneath the earth, and were released from the railway with a harsh click of the shoulder restraints. "Unit-01 and 02, lift off from linear line route 26!" The metallic titans rose from their stupor and grabbed the umbilical cables from the nearby NERV equipment transports. "Umbilical cables connected! Begin power transmission!" The ticking timer inside near their thrones turned to zero; they were free to go.

Unit-01 retrieved the standard rifle it was used to while Unit-02 reached for the partisan with a glowing edge from the transports. Both cautiously stepped in the ocean, balancing themselves on the partially sunken ruins of the old world, and posted once they were far enough from the main roads.

Asuka, with the itch of war on her nose, looked out at the horizon, and proclaimed, "Come and get it, angel!"

Her cry was heeded when the large whitecap in the horizon formed and charged rapidly towards the two Evangelions.

"Here it comes!"

"I'll go first! You better back me up, Third Child!"

From beneath the crescent wave exploded out the next angel. It's massive sharkskin-like flesh sent the sea falling off it's body as if it did not belong, and it's red and blue ying-yang, one could only presume, face shone menacingly in the midday sun. But there was no time to look; Misato gave the order, "Begin the attack!"

The geometrically smooth-bodied angel rose it's tridental fin into air and charge forward. The red Evangelion lunged forward, partisan in hand, and tore the sea arose it's feet. The purple Evangelion centered it's target and opened fire on the amphibious creature. The outsized bullets ricocheted off it's A.T. Field, but succeeded in halting it's charge, allowing the Unit-02 to speed across a patch of buildings.

Shinji looked at the body of the angel and saw the red orb, which seemed to be the life source of all of the angels he had killed so far, and noticed another beneath the first. "What the hell? Two cores!"

His untimely observation would come at a price. The red Eva took it's opening and leaped from the buildings and, with the glow of the sun behind the phoenix, soared into the air. Asuka screamed her battle cry as her Unit-02 brought down the blade with deadly precision and split the beast in half.

The air stood still and the blood in her veins danced with the thrill of victory. She had done it. She killed an angel, by her own blade and bravado.

"That was beautiful, Asuka! Good job!" shouted the elated tactician.

Asuka smugly then rested her head on her throne before waving Misato off. "Oh... it was nothing really. Hardly worth the effort of calling two Evangelions out of the hangar, wouldn't you say?"

Shinji sighed with relief since his fears were put to rest. All that remained was his envy at her piloting abilities. 'That was awesome. How does she move like that?' His mental praise was interrupted when Asuka stuck her tongue out and pulled her eyelid. 'Oh, that's mature...'

The Evangelion yanked the partisan out of the sea floor and began walking away from the split angel. Shinji's eyes went wide when he saw the slices twitch and spasm-- it wasn't dead. "Asuka, it's still moving! It's alive!"

Asuka looked back in dread as the cores split and shelled over. The sliced angel's exposed flesh peeled off and fell into the ocean, revealing the angel twins. The fleshy, popping sounds of rearranging cartilage and bone resonated into the wind and froze the veins of the NERV staff.

Asuka's Eva gripped the partisan tightly and back away from the slowly approaching twins. "No way! This isn't fair! I killed you!"

Misato knew this was bad. She had to keep the pilots cool. "Heads up, you two! They're coming!"

The two angels dived into the shallow ocean and rushed towards the Evangelions in line with one another. The whitecaps split apart when the Evangelions headed in different directions. Unit-02 raised it's partisan, ready to parry the striking flesh trident claws that would stab from the waves, while Unit-01 sent rapid, scattered shots towards the swerving angel.

The red Evangelion sidestepped the claws and brought down the blade swiftly into the clavicle of it's attacker. To Asuka's dismay the deep wound squirmed and enclosed on itself, rejuvenating it's flesh. "Gaaak! What the hell is it doing! That's cheating!"

Shinji fared no better. His accuracy with the rifle was slightly below that of a marksman, but it did not help against the regenerator angels. He blasted the claws clear off the angel, only to have the regenerate without so much as slowing it down for more than a few seconds. "What's with theses guys! They just keep healing themselves!"

"Asuka," shouted their tactician, "Aim for the core!"

Feeling the heat of battle once again, she retorted, "Yeah, yeah, I know!" Her Unit-02 stabbed the partisan into the sea floor and grabbed the angel's claw as they attempted to slash at her head. The red titan jumped and landed on both of the tridents before grabbing the partisan and thrusting it deep into the angel's core. Despite the partisan's penetration of the red orb, the angel's body pushed the weapon outward and amassed upon itself to heal once again. "It's no use! It's some kind of reflexive healing system! What the hell do I do now!"

Asuka's fears worsened when she heard Shinji's straggled scream from behind her. "SHINJI!" As soon as her guard fell, the angel grabbed the Evangelion from behind and carried the red beast above itself. "Hey! Let me go you ugly bastard!"

Both Evangelion unit's were launched towards the other, soaring impossibly high above the ocean and colliding against each other with a resonating metallic crash and deathly boom. Misato stared at the main monitor in awe-struck fear. "This is unreal...!" The Evangelions landed onto the remains of a giant leaning skyscraper jutting out of the sea.

And their battle was over.

--

At 3:58:15 A.M. Today, Eva Units-01 and 02 ceased all functioning after encounter with dual angels," began Maya Ibuki, "At 4:03 A.M., NERV gave up the right of command which was transferred to UN-2."

Both Eva-pilots looked at their units being carried away in those giant mechanical contraptions that soared clumsily into the skies with deadpanned expressions. It was an embarrassing defeat; a fact which both, despite the girl's ego, was well acknowledged and regretted.

Behind them sat the supreme commander of NERV and right hand, snow-haired right hand. The commander's words would wait for the right hand's observations. "Tsk, tsk."

Misato sighed and sunk in her seat. It was the first true set back against the angels, and an ungraceful one at that. "I-I'm sorry..." The pilots looked down at the floor and said nothing.

Shinji frowned sadly. 'I didn't want dad to see me like that... so weak.'

"At 4:05, the target is attacked with a N2 Bomb..." The topography revealed the large scattered pieces of land around the white noise of the explosion radius.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Fuyutsuki began, "We'll have to redraw the map again..."

"...resulting in a twenty-eight percent incineration of the target."

Asuka pointed at the scaly and dried-up dual angels leaning against one-another. "So does that mean they're dead?" she asked the right hand.

"It only immobilized them. Their healing systems are no doubt at work."

It was finally the Commander's turn to speak. "You two!"

"Y-Yes?" both asked, afraid of the booming voice.

"Do you know what your jobs are?" His voice was stone cold, marbled and edged.

Asuka replied hesitantly. "To pilot Eva...?"

"No. It's to defeat the angels." He got up from his seat and turned to walk away. "NERV does not exist solely for Eva, nor does it need this sort of negative attention." Without another word, he left with the right hand and Rei following silently.

Everyone emptied from the room, leaving the two Eva pilots. Both walked out with heads hung low, and it seemed appropriate. As soon they exited the room, Asuka stomped her heel into Shinji's shoe. "OW! That hurt! Alone for two seconds and you ambush me!"

"Shut-up! Why did I have to get yelled at by the Commander!" She pointed an accusing finger. "My first battle in Japan was ruined-- because of you!"

"Why is it my fault!"

"It's obvious. You got caught by the angel 'cause your a klutz. I got caught because I couldn't concentrate because you got caught. It's entirely your fault." She began stomping the ground angrily. "And not only does the Commander yell at me, but first looks at me with such contempt! Aargh!"

Shinji lowered his head. She was right, after all. "Yeah, well... it's not like we could do anything against them healing themselves..."

"And to be tossed into the air like some damn rag doll, it's just so embarrassing!"

Asuka's ratings were cut off by a familiar set of hands grabbing her shoulders. "Hey! Squabbling at a time like this?"

Asuka turned around and latched onto the older man's arm. "Kaji! We weren't squabbling. Shinji was just picking on me again."

Shinji's jaw dropped. 'Another change?'

"Okay, you two-- how about some dinner? Haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"Yay! I'd love to go out with you!"

"Say, Mr. Kaji... what about Misato?"

"Don't worry about that, Shinji. I doubt she'll get any supper tonight. Being in charge sometimes means taking the heat."

Back in her office, Misato looked at the mountainous range of papers stacked on her desk and grimaced. Ritsuko, who smiled at her predicament, stood behind her and prepared to make herself some coffee. "That's it! Damage reports and protests from each retaining ministry, and the bill from the UN. And another bill for your beer. I don't know which is higher."

Misato grabbed the envelope and tossed it onto the pile. "How's the Eva repair going?"

"Five days in the workshop."

"And the angels?"

"Currently regenerating. Magi predicts a new attack five days from now."

"How convenient-- both sides are out of action for that time..."

"Commander Ikari wasn't happy." She took a deep sip of the chocolate colored liquid. "You'll probably get fired the next time you fail."

"Hey! Don't talk like that!"

She pulled a disk out of her lab coat pocket. "Of course, a really bright idea might help keep your job... say... this one?"

Misato's eye's sparkled with life once more. "An idea! for me! Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, you're amazing!"

Ritsuko's smile got wider. "Sorry-- I didn't come up with it..."

"What? Then who?" She flipped the disk over and looked at the label. "To my honey?"

"It's Kaji's."

Misato's expression darkened. She handed the disk back, but Ritsuko keep pouring herself the brown liquid. "I don't want it!"

"You'd rather get fired?"

At the same time, the two pilots and the agent of NERV ate their meals in the sterile cafeteria inside the underground fortress. Asuka, who sipped at her drink angrily, explained to Kaji the situation with the current angel.

"You understand, don't you, Kaji? That didn't truly represent my real abilities." She took another sip and shifted her eyes away from the boy near her. "Of course, I don't know about Shinji..."

Shinji twirled his spoon into the curry on his plate, sighed, and said sarcastically, "Yes, yes-- I have no talent."

"C'mon you two-- don't get so upset. The match isn't over yet. Just work harder next time."

"Aw, but... but with the Evas broken, who knows when we'll get a next time?"

Ms. Ibuki's voice rang from the speakers at the corner of the sterile room. "Would the pilots for Eva Unit-01 and 02 please report to the second conference room at once. Repeat, would the pilots for Eva Unit-01 and 02..."

"See, you're wanted already. Good luck..."

Both pilots left the cafeteria and began walking towards the conference room. "But the Evas are still inoperable! What could they want with us?"

Asuka grit her teeth. "It doesn't really matter-- but you're so inconsiderate!"

"What?"

"Kaji asked me out to dinner, but I couldn't be alone with him 'cause of you tagging along! Why did you have to come!"

Shinji shrunk back and tried his best defense. "B-But..."

He was saved by his purple-haired guardian once again. With the grace of a business woman, she strolled by and waved her hand towards the two, signaling them to stop their bickering and follow her. They followed, with their past conversation forgotten, confused as to where they were being led.

"Misato, I thought we were going to the conference room?"

"Forget that!"

"So, where are we going?"

"To prepare for our next operation. Just follow me. I trust you'll get a kick out of it." She winked at Shinji, producing the nostalgic blush she's missed in the past few days.

Asuka raised her eyebrows. "Our next operation?"

"Our computer simulations have revealed that the halves of the angel are operating in perfect tandem. Even divided, it acts with one mind. The only way to defeat the angel is to attack both cores at once. It'll take perfect timing from both Evas." They reached the end of a long corridor, Misato slid her ID card into the slot and pressed the OPEN button. "We'll need complete harmony between you two... or the mission's a failure." She extended her arms outward and walked into the room. "Come on in, you two!"

Inside the large room was two queen-size twin beds separated by two drawers, and a TV on top and in-between them. It was a great room, by no means elegant nor substandard, but that had little to do with why they were in such a place. Asuka was the first to question the tactician. "What is this? It's a regular twin bedroom..."

"Welcome to your new quarters! You'll be living here for the next five days."

Realization slowly came to them both, and so did the impending sense of doom and dread. "WHAT!"

Misato smiled cheerfully. "We don't have much time, and I won't take no for an answer."

--

**What? What's with that death glare?**

**Five days in a room alone with her... you probably-- knowing you and her-- did perverted things...**

**N-Nothing happened! I don't think of her like that... would you let me finish before you stop jumping to conclusions?**

**I don't think I need to hear anymore. I can imagine the rest-- damnit! It's in my head! The image! Shinji, you bastard, I hate you!**

**Ahh... listen will you? You'll never change...**

--

"You've got to be kidding me!" shrieked the red-haired German, "Live together for five days? We're of the opposite sex!"

"Misato, what are you thinking!"

Misato was honestly confused. "What are you so upset about? This is an operational necessity! You two must be in perfect harmony! Training all day together isn't enough! We need to synchronize your biological rhythms as well. So you're going to eat together, train together, sleep together and get up together-- that's all. What's the big deal?"

Asuka pointed towards Shinji. "What if Ikari gets all horny at night and attacks me!"

Misato laughed and waved her off. "Oh, that's okay!" She laid a reassuring hand onto her shoulder. "He wouldn't have the guts to do something that direct."

Shinji looked at the carpet and sighed. 'And if I did, she'd kill me. I remember the way she fought.'

Misato looked at her young charge and patted him on the head and, full of laughter, said, "And sleeping and getting up together with a girl shouldn't be something new to you, Shin-chan!" She ruffled his hair and started walking off. "I'm sure you have everything here that you'll need, but if there's something I missed, call me over the intercom. Wake up call is at 6:30 A.M. G'night! Don't tire poor Shinji out too bad, Asuka, ya hear?" Barely dodging the blushing girl's shoe, Misato took her cue and left the room, leaving the two to let the situation sink into them.

'Reality has become a nightmare!' she thought frantically, 'beating the angel can't be worth this...' She threw herself onto the bed dramatically and whined. "Arggggh! If only I could be cooped up with Kaji! But with you! Life's not fair!"

Shinji bit his tongue. "S-Say... could I take a shower first? I think I need to cool off a little..."

"NO. Haven't you heard of chivalry! Ladies always go first! I go before you, idiot!" She opened the bathroom door and turned back with a deadly glare. "Let me remind you... no peeking!"

"... I know." He softly murmured. "It's hardly worth the eye gouging anyway..."

"Hey! What was that supposed to mean!"

"Just take a shower already!" 'Super-hearing...'

"Hmph!" She slammed the door and turned the faucets on.

Shinji sighed and laid down on his bed, allowing himself to get comfortable for the first time since his defeat by the dual angels. 'I see many problems ahead.' He sighed deeply and tried his best to nap.

I never thought I'd have to do something like this at NERV... I'd rather be doing this with Rei, at least I know she won't attempt to throttle me in my sleep...'

Time passed, and he allowed himself the pleasure of an afternoon nap. Eventually the shower stopped and the door opened, letting the steam from the bathroom empty into the single bedroom and travel into the young boy's nostrils. He awoke to his name once again, and, for a brief moment, he could imagine the sable-haired girl standing at the shower's door, glistening from the water with those sparkling russet eyes; such an euphoric and frightening thought made his heart beat against his rib cage. He cautiously turned his head towards the steam and looked at the red-haired, blossoming young woman, covered in nothing more than a moist towel, winking at him, shyly drying her hair.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Shinji! I'm all freshened up now..."

Shinji's heart raced, he stumbled to lift himself off the bed and tried his best not to look, failing miserably as his eyes traveled to the lissome legs before him. "Why aren't dressed!"

"Teehee..." She wiggled playfully in her towel and used a free hand to move the hair away from her eyes. "What do you think, Shinji? Like what you see?"

Shinji looked at the bed sheets and felt the desert inside of his mouth, trying desperately to say something past the ache in his throat. "After you told me not to peek!"

"Hmph... you know it's really hurts that your so uninterested... you gay?"

"N-No! It's just... that your..."

She leaned in and allowed his eyes to wander to her ample cleavage. "Well, if your not... then you'll notice that my breasts have come in nicely," she said with added honey, "How about it? Want to see the best thing you'll see in years...?"

Shinji stumbled back, edging to the bed's corner. "Stop it! Don't take it off!"

She quickly flashed a seductive smile and began unwrapping the towel that hugged her body tightly, causing the young boy to stumble further and fall off the bed. He laid on his back with his eyes closed, waiting for the sign of his dissipating dream.

He felt his face burning; the gods of embarrassment and hilarity were certainly getting their fill. After a few seconds he felt a light tapping on his side. He opened one of his eyes to see Asuka, with shorts and a small T-shirt, barely containing her laughter behind her smug smile. Once he opened both of his eyes, Asuka couldn't contain herself, she laughed and fell to the floor. "I can't breathe! Hahaha!"

Shinji got up and leaned against the bed with an irritated smile on his face. He guessed it was just her form of revenge. But he didn't really find it that funny.

"Look at your face! You're blushing right up to yours ears!" She rolled on the floor, trying to get the wind back into her lungs. "Oh my god, your too easy!"

He rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "You know, it would probably be just like Misato to be watching us with surveillance cameras."

"What!" She got up and started to look frantically for anything that would hid a camera. "Where's the camera! There can't be one!"

--

The 12th.

"You two got that? Now, what you're looking at is the choreography to the dance you're going to practice. You're going to memorize this by heart."

Shinji tugged at the skin tight leotard. "Dressed like this?"

"Quit complaining!" The tactician was in no mode to listen to the complaints of a teenager, not with the deadline so close. "Appearance is vital in order to create the mood for this kind of thing! The enemy shares one mind with two bodies, so its vital you two learn to move in unison. Memorizing an attack pattern based on music is the quickest way to master perfect harmony. We've got only four days, so there's no time for mistakes."

The door of the room slid open to reveal the unshaven man of the phoenix's' desires. "I chose the music and did the choreography, by the way."

"Kaji!"

Misato deadpanned at his entrance. "I can do this by myself."

"Now, now..."

Misato turned on the sound system. "Let's practice the first part then. Listen carefully... and begin!"

The two pilots started perfectly synched, they landed on their knees and palms, grabbed their rifle in that fluid movement of a dancer, but quickly fell apart thereafter.

Misato sighed. "Well?"

It was Shinji who lost his balance first. "Ow! My ass!"

Kaji eye's twitched at the jumbled movements of the pilots. "The dance of the crane and monkey."

"Looks like this will take more time than I thought."

Shinji and Asuka walked in aching pain towards NERV's cafeteria. "Three straight hours of practice, straight off the bat... damn, my legs hurt... and there's more after lunch..."

"What are you complaining about! It's only difficult because you're a klutz!" She twirled her head upward, raising her nose high. "It would have been perfect already if I were by myself."

"Yeah, if you were by yourself. But of course you wouldn't have any intention of adjusting your pace for me."

The red manned girl lunged towards the boy and tried to pull the ears off of him. "You're the one who should adjust your pace, idiot! You're just dragging me down!"

"Grr! Ow!" The pain seemed to disappear at the appearance of the figure down the hall. The Supreme Commander of NERV, Gendo Ikari, father of the Third Child and holder of Adam, walked towards the pair, eyes hidden by the orange flame of his glasses, but never noticing them.

Asuka turned around to see the sudden cause of Shinji's apathy. "Oh... Commander."

He stopped his pace and addressed the newest member of Tokyo-3's NERV HQ. "How's it going?"

Asuka, elated by the voice of the man in charge, responded cheerfully. "Just fine, sir! We'll definitely win four days from now!"

The stoic man walked forward once again. "I see. I'll be looking forward to your results." He began walking away without another word.

Shinji didn't speak, he tried not to speak, he wanted to hold out, telling himself that his father wasn't worth the air in his lungs that would form his words, but he couldn't suppress the need to talk to him. He turned around, and said, "Um... Father!"

The man turned around at the voice. "What is it?"

"Um..." His legs were shaking; it's a bad decision, he told himself, but it was too late to turn back now. "We're about to have lunch. If you'd like... we could...-"

"Sorry--" He turned back once again and walked away steadily. "I have work to attend to. Some other time."

Asuka looked at Shinji from behind, watching his shaking fist and legs, and wondering what it was that kept him and his father at such a distance. 'It must be a male thing...' She dismissed the occurrence and pushed the boy towards the cafeteria as soon as the man left the distance.

The rest of the day was spent practicing the choreography for another six or seven hours. Time was blurry after so much time. They both were in their twin bedroom. Asuka had showered and Shinji had as well. While Asuka talked about how tired she was of practicing all day, Shinji laid on his back listening to the soothing melancholy tune that his ear buds gave him, ignoring reality and revisiting the moment he met the sable-haired girl and her younger sister. In that room, it seemed like an eternity ago.

"I can't believe Misato insisted that we listen to this music even at night." She plopped down onto Shinji's bed and stretched her legs out. "I'm sick of it! Aren't you, Shinji?" Her complaining fell on deaf ears. She looked at Shinji's sad smile. It was then that Misato's words fell back into the front of her mind. "Hey, Shinji... what did Misato mean when she said that sleeping and getting up with girl wouldn't be a new thing to you?" She doubted it was how she meant it, the boy didn't seem to be one who would have the guts to talk to a girl, but it was still an interesting subject, nonetheless.

Shinji took the ear buds off. "It's just Misato trying to tease me again," he lied unconvincingly.

"I know there's more to it than that, idiot." She took a sip from her can and continued. "Now, really, what did she mean?"

Shinji knew better than to withhold information from the girl. Not from experience, but from a personal guessing. "You really want to know? It's not really interesting..."

"Well, duh." She said straight-faced.

"Misato was just talking about Aiko."

It was getting interesting, she thought. "Aiko? Whose that?"

"A friend." He didn't want to explain their recent history, so he'd just say as little as possible. "She's the little sister of another friend of mine. She's... well, short, really energetic, and loud."

"Sounds like a real pain."

'Just like you...' "She's only twelve, so it's not that bad... anyway. Her sister was having..." His throat went dry. "... some medical problems, so I took custody of her for a few days."

"Custody?"

"I know-- it's strange, but I took temporary custody of her, and she was scared, so she slept in my bed. Nothing more than that."

Asuka took a sip from her can. It was interesting, to say the least, but she knew that he would continue to dance around any details. "So what happened to the older sister?"

He cleared his throat. "... She's doing fine. They're back at their home now."

A boring ending, she thought. "So what was wrong with her?-- the older one, I mean."

He looked at the ceiling for a while, trying to remember if he was ever told what was wrong. From what he remembered, it seemed to be a heart attack, but it couldn't have been. Who ever heard of a teenager having a heart attack, after all? "... I don't know. Ritsuko never explained exactly what was wrong with her."

"Dr. Akagi? Why would a civilian be inside the NERV hospital?" There was more going on than he was saying.

"I wanted her to be under NERV medical assistance."

"A pilot just can't bring anyone into HQ-- who is she anyway?"

"She is... can we just drop it already!"

Asuka took a final sip from her can and stretched out her legs once again. "Fine, fine, but we still have more to talk about."

He mentally sighed and stared back at the ceiling. "How do you figure that?"

"We're pilots," she stated matterly-of-factly, "so we should at least try and act like friends."

"Yeah, yeah... so what do you want to talk about?" He had a bad feeling about the impending subject. He just couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Do you...do you have a father complex?"

Shinji's facial expression changed to a more sullen on. "What are talking about?"

"Am I right? You wanted to have lunch with the Commander, didn't you? Since then you've been all gloomy and depressed because he said no."

He continued to stare at the ceiling and didn't look in her blue eyes. There was a silence that ensued until she asked again, in a more aggressive tone, of course. "Look, I don't have a complex. I just... I hate him. I hate him so much that I wonder why he's my father. But, the thing is, I don't really want to hate him."

Asuka walked towards the mini fridge, grabbed another can of tea and sat back down on his bed. "Sounds complex to me."

"What... What about you father, then? How well do you two get along?"

She took a swig from the can. "I don't have a father."

He stopped staring at the ceiling and looked at her. "What? ... Did he die?"

"Nope-- never had one to begin with. Ever heard of a sperm bank? My father was one of the sperm that my mother withdrew from the bank. I was conceived in a test tube."

Finally out of his stupor, only to fall back once again, he sat up and just stared at the bed sheets, not knowing exactly what to say.

"What's you problem?"

"Well... I'd heard of it... but I'd never seen the actual results of it."

"And listen!" Excitement was now back on her lips, she said, "It wasn't just any sperm. My mother chose a very exclusive sperm bank. The donor passed a strict qualification test on academic background and character. Of course, the women who buy the sperm have to be similarly qualified as well."

Shinji smiled at her enthusiasm. He had to admit that talking to her when she wasn't being rude or loud was a much more a pleasing experience. 'Still, there's something wrong with a fourteen year old girl talking about all this sperm...'

"And my father was the best of the best-- from a genius scientist. So I was born through the combination of an elite sperm and elite egg." She placed her hand gracefully over her heart. "Which means I was a chosen being, a special person."

Shinji sighed. 'So that's what she was really trying to say... but how did such a dysfunctional person result from an elite sperm and egg...?"

"Is that disbelief on your face!"

Shinji laid back down. "But... don't you get lonely? Never having a father, I mean..."

She knew he wanted to compare himself with her, trying to see if he was the only one who missed having a father figure, but she couldn't relate to that. "Not really. It doesn't matter whether I have a father or not." For a few seconds, her eyes were beautiful, deep and blue, but empty and sad. "If I was chosen from among many to become an Eva pilot, and I fight and defeat the angels... and if everyone acknowledges those accomplishments... then I'd be happy."

Shinji could only continued to stare at her. She wasn't that different from him, not enough to be similar, but enough. Just enough. "Asuka... it's getting late, and we have practice early..."

She got up from his bed and kicked off her slippers. "Yeah..."

It was around three in the morning when he woke up to the sounds of a childlike voice. It was similar to the cries of a girl he knew, but it couldn't be. He got up, expecting to see Aiko next to him, but all he say was Asuka on the bed on the other side of the room, her cover on the floor, mumbling something.

Barely above a whisper, but it carried loudly in the bedroom, "Mommy..."

Shinji turned around his bed and frowned. 'She made fun of me so much-- and yet she's obsessed with her mother herself.'

"Mommy... why did you have to die...?"

He opened his eyes once again. The voice was too sad to ignore, a silent distraught too forlorn to sleep past. He got up from the sheet's warm embrace and cracked his neck before walking over to the girl and placing the blanket back on her shiver frame. And yet, still, the scared voice wouldn't stop mumbling, but he couldn't stop it with the token gesture.

He walked back to his bed and tried to get back to sleep. 'She'd fooled me with her arrogance, but it crossed my mind just now... maybe Asuka is a normal girl after all.' He tried to sleep, but could not. Not until the child's voice stopped and the figure under the blanket stopped shivering.

--

'Where are you, Shinji? It's been so long...'

It had been a few days and she had not seen the young boy since Hikari spoke to him. Even worse, the girls that worked with him had been gone as well; with him. It seemed like an eternity since she was able to talk to him or even hold his hand, and it was aggravating her. It was her perverseness, a conscious yet inescapable tendency, that caused her anger, anger towards girls that had done nothing wrong, but insult her by being so beautiful, and being near him. She knew it was unfair, but she couldn't help it.

It was not as if Shinji was the only cute boy on the school campus. She acknowledged that. She could also accept that she was attractive to an extent, but she didn't stand out. She was normal. They were not. They were pilots, the girls were beautiful. It was unfair.

The mole that was near her lips, the one that Shinji had shyly said made her look cute and made her turn bright red, even began to tear at her nerves. Was it really cute, or an imperfection? Was he just trying to make her feel better? Insecurity was a bitch, she thought.

"Mayumi, you've been on the same page for the last ten minutes. Something wrong?"

"N-No... just do your homework, Aiko."

--

It was going bad. They had trained long and hard, but they had only made minor improvements. Shinji was too self-conscious and Asuka would not slow her pace to try and synchronize herself with the Third Child. To top it all off, in a moment of spite, Misato had made Shinji dance with the First Child, who synchronized perfectly with him on their first try.

Asuka left the room in anger, and, if it wasn't for Kaji's words, Shinji might have stayed in the room and waited for the Second Child's return.

"Shinji... what are you doing?" He smiled suavely. "Go after Asuka."

"B-But-"

"This is your job, too."

He left the room and ran towards the direction Asuka had left. He found himself the NERV gardens, a large landscape of greenery and stone pillars, reminiscent of Victorian or Greek architecture, inside the Geo-front. Thought the land was beautiful, his attention was grasped by the figure in the distance, past the lengthy fountain of cascading waters, sitting on steps leading to the garden.

He stepped towards her cautiously. "Asuka..."

"What do you want? Why did you follow me?"

"I'm sorry..." He didn't know what else to say. All he could do was apologize.

"Why am I the one to get yelled at? I'd doing it perfectly. You're the mumbling klutz. You're the slow one." She hugged her knees. "Why take it out on me!"

"I'm sorry... I'm doing my best. Really..." He sighed and took one more step closer. "Asuka... Maybe if you relaxed more. I mean, sure, you're good at Eva piloting, and you've even graduated from college already, but you're still just a kid, just like me."

She turned around, anger clear in her lungs. "Are you trying to give me advice!"

"Advice? Not really... but, don't you get tired of it? Pretending you're little miss perfect in front of Misato and Kaji... that's not you. You don't have to force yourself to-"

"Oh, shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! You have no right to talk to me like that! Who the hell do you think you are!"

"I'm sorry... it's just that... I used to be like that too. So it's understandable..."

"You understand me! What a load!"

"I'm sorry... I'll go back."

He left without another word, walking towards his room, never noticing the unshaven man that followed him the whole time, leaving a trail of ashes from his cigarette wherever he went.

Once Shinji returned to his room the unshaven agent went to find his female companions. He walked calmly, cigarette in hand, to the good doctor's office, finding Misato and Ritsuko discussing the day's events.

"Asuka didn't come back after all." Misato rested her chin on her palms. "The battle is tomorrow, but they're still not in harmony with each other. This isn't going to go well... Maybe we should just go with Shinji and Rei. I mean, they did synchronize perfectly."

Ritsuko grabbed her clipboard and flipped through the pages. "Shall we do a run-up for Rei and Unit-02? Unit-00 is still in the workshop. It's been through a hell of a lot."

Kaji rubbed his chin sagely, "No. It's still too early for drastic measures. There's still one more night left. Sometimes that's all it takes." His smile turned into a grin. "Right, Katsuragi?"

"Oh, shut it, you lecher!"

Shinji looked towards the empty bed to his left. 'She's not back yet. I wonder if she's still in the gardens.' He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. 'Maybe I said too much. Just because I helped Rei out doesn't mean that I can do it twice. Maybe it was a fluke.'

He opened his eyes when he heard the faint clanking of shoes near his door. The door opened, and Asuka walked in. He got up from his bed, and said, "Asuka... your back."

She grinned with determination. "You think you can just say things to me, Third Child?" She ran halfway through the room and kicked the television that center the ceiling, smashing the box in two and sending it crashing, revealing the camera inside.

Shinji's eyes went wide. "So I was right..."

"C'mon, Shinji, we've got some training to do!"

Just a few meters away from their room sat Misato and Kaji, watching Asuka's foot collide with the surveillance camera that she had planted inside the television set. "Damn! She found the camera!" She slammed the console and got up from her seat. "I'm going to go check on those two."

Kaji grabbed her arm before she left in a huff. "Hold on. Let's leave them alone. It would just be awkward if you went up there and--"

"What! You act like you know what the hell they're up to!"

Misato's voice was turned into a gasp as Kaji grabbed her wrist and placed his arm around her waist. "Don't make such an angry face, you'll get wrinkles. We can just enjoy ourselves here... we're all alone, you know." He closed the distance between he and her, drawing her lips to his. Closer, and closer.

"N... N-No..." Regaining her senses, she pushed him away and slapped him across his face, leaving her palm with the prick of his unshaven beard.

He rubbed his cheek. "That hurt."

"It was suppose to!" She walked back to her console and rested her cheeks on her palms. "What makes you think that I've forgiven you?" Behind her, he could only smile.

"No! Raise that scrawny leg higher!" screamed the redhead, "No, no, no! I said, jump higher! And you're behind half a beat!" Asuka, tired after two hours of practice, stomped the floor. "Arrrgh! Why are you such a klutz all the time! This is unbelievable!"

'I'd hate to be that camera... or the floor.'

"Listen up, Shinji! We're going to have this perfect by tomorrow morning, no matter what! We're going to show Misato and the First that we can work together!"

Shinji smiled tiredly. 'She's so determined, so strong... I wish I could have that kind of attitude, so lionhearted.' With some inspiration in his mellow disposition, he stood next to her. "Alright, let's get this right. We don't have long."

"That's more like it. Sounds like you have the will to do this!"

--

The birds flew away in terror when the duel angels stomped into the mountain side. Both hulky figures stopped their steps when the UN helicopters surrounded the air in front of them, an aerial blockade.

Inside the command center, preparations were being made for the duet to come. "Targets have passed the Goura Absolute Defense Line! Currently on a mountain course towards Tokyo-3!"

Misato stood in front of the monitor, letting the image cast her silhouette against the floor. "Targets have entered point Zero! This is three hours earlier than the Magi predicted... What's the status of the Evangelions?"

"We're prepared for launched--" informed Maya, "-- but the pilots haven't arrived yet!"

Without hesitation Misato ran towards the twin bedroom where the pilots were the last time she checked. "What the hell are they doing?" She worried for their future, hopefully they were there, since time was of the essence. The door slid open. "Shinji, Asuka! Didn't you hear the sirens? It's--" She looked down to see the two pilots sprawled on the floor, heads huddled together, sleeping soundly. "Gaahhh!" She lifted the two off the floor. "Why are you two still sleeping! C'mon, change into your plug suits." She started dragging the two away from each other and the carpeted floor that was their pillow.

"Sleeeeeepy..." groaned the female pilot.

"Please!" she begged, "You have got to get up!"

The two pilots sleepily went into their dressing rooms and changed into their plug suits. It was going to be quiet a show, they thought confidently.

"Passage clear, all green. Eva Units-01 and 02 ready for launch."

Misato, now back at her post, grabbed her hair in distress. "Argh! We're doomed! There wasn't any time for any last minute practice!"

A strong voice reached Misato's ears, forcing out the negativity that once sunk her heart. "Don't worry about it, Misato. Our unison is already perfect, better than those two angels, there's no need for practice." She grinned. "Got the plan, Shinji? We'll launch with AT Field fully deployed-- at total operation and top speed."

The meek voice, now tinged with the confidence from the redhead, spoke assuredly. "I know. We'll finish them in the sixty-two seconds we have before the internal batteries run out... We won't make a mistake."

Misato stood dumbfounded by the sudden change in atmosphere. The NERV crew and bridge technicians, even the good doctor, now seemed ready to back up their pilots. "... That's what I like to hear, Shinji. Get ready for launch! The angels have breached the defense and are on course."

Maya would begin this act. "Purge external power source!"

Misato folded her hands and conducted the orchestra. "Launch, Evas!"

The catapults clicked and shot the two Evangelions onto the stage, the empty streets of Tokyo-3, leaving behind a trail of electrical sparks and shattered, abandoned cars. The sun shone brightly on their scarlet and purple armor as they were shot out of the ground and into the sky, casting their shadow over their enemies.

The curtains were pulled, menacingly, they both clenched their metallic fist at the sound of the war drum and thundering cymbals.

"Begin the assault!" The conductor ordered.

The Evas' shadow grew and so did the terror they implied. They outstretched their arms and raised their knees, each landing their knee into the belly of each beast, sending the angels to stumble backwards. Elegantly, they landed on their knees and palms, sending the shockwaves to the still stumbling angels.

Misato was overjoyed. "Perfect harmony! This is just... wow!"

The buildings only meters away from them opened their shutters and revealed the rifles behind the steel gates. Coordinated, they grabbed their rifles and swung around the buildings, and, shoulder to shoulder, they emptied their clips into the angels. This was put a distraction.

With every hole put into their body another second passed. The violins screeched on violently, yet in unison and right, signaling the oncoming wave. The angels' eyes released their bright beam of light, and the cymbals crashed.

The beam boomed at their feet, rending asunder the streets, but nothing more. The titans jumped back, back flipped through the streets, and narrowly, but effectively, dodged every attempt to murder them. Synchronized, they landed on a panel which caused a thick barrier to stop the next shot from the Angels.

They took the rifles from the next buildings and swung from behind the wall, emptying one-third of their clips into the monsters before them. The horns sounded their tunes of distress; they looked up to see the angels jumping towards them. The titans back stepped as their claws tore the shield in four. They were in danger now.

"Cover fire! Full barrage!"

The orchestra once again came alive in the midst of their decrescendo, sending the missiles to launch towards the angels and covering them in the white mist after death.

"Shinji!"

"Got it!"

Both Evangelions started to sprint towards the mist, sending the shockwaves towards the mountains, before skipping once, preparing for a giant leap, and stomping forward into a vault over buildings and into the sky. The orchestra reached it's height, the conductor sweaty and impassioned with the thrill of the play and skill of the performers, and the Evangelions twisted gracefully in air and dropped their legs towards their targets, the red orb of the angels.

With an enormous boom the steel boots collided with the red spheres, pushing them across the city and up the nearest mountain, sending fragments of the angel's red soul onto the concrete. The heels buried in the sphere felt nothing but Earth beneath them after the angels violently exploded on top of the mountain.

The conductor smiled, held her fist in the air in girlish excitement with the smile to match, and said, "We... We did it! It's over!" In seeing the results of her piece, she grabbed the nearest person and hugged them tightly. "I thought we were doomed, but-- oh wow!"

Realizing whose neck her arms were around, Misato slapped the man immediately. Kaji stumbled back and rubbed his cheek. "Huh...?"

Maya scratched her cheek and laughed lightly. "It seems they're not getting up." She pointed to the main monitor where one could see Unit-02 laying across Unit-01. "It seems that Shinji blew the landing."

Asuka sat on her throne with held-back anger live in her face. Shinji sighed and rubbed the back of his head once again. "Sorry... we fell asleep before we could rehearse the landing..."

"Can't you at least land without me coaching you! Damn you and your scrawny legs!"

"I said I'm sorry! It's over anyways, so what does it matter!"

She stayed quite for awhile, contemplating the situation with a deadpanned expression. He expected more yelling, but he was pleasantly surprise with words of praise. "I'll forgive you-- this time. We did win against the angel, after all." Her expression soften to a smile. "And you did pretty well-- for a klutz."

"Words of praise from the great Asuka Langley Soryu! I'm flatter," he said with no sarcasm.

It had been a long night and an exciting day, so they closed their eyes and let themselves catch up on some needed, and deserved, rest. Maya Ibuki giggled at his calm expression, since the change was unexpected and pleasant, and pointed to the screen. "They fell asleep... they look happy, though."

Misato slapped away Kaji's hand from her waist and sighed at the sight on screen. "I guess it's to be expected. Asuka may be energetic, but Shinji's been through a lot of fights on his own... still.. can't they at least get the Evas to their cages...?"

Kaji rubbed his chin with a grin at the sight before him. 'Well done, you two.'

--

In the distance, she saw him. She grinned widely, with childish glee and youthful spirit, and when she knew she looked silly, she still could not get rid of that innocent smile which betrayed her attempt to hide it so. She missed him, even with all her new friends, she missed her first real friend in the new city. Ignoring all her mother's lessons of propriety, she ran towards him.

The little blur sped past the school gate that she had just crossed and tackled the target of her affection. He caught her and, unwillingly at first, spun her around. He couldn't refuse her, she sounded so happy. She giggled gleefully and eventually stopped when he could not continue spinning her.

He was about to fall over onto the streets, but a girl next to him casually stuck out one finger and tilted him forward, giving him the push he needed to regain his position. She stood next to him and looked at the little girl that hugged him; she was barely tall enough to have her head to his chest, she thought. 'Must be the girl he mentioned before.'

The people that looked at the two soon lost interest and continued on their way to school. The little girl continued to smile. "Shinji! I haven't seen you in a while! Where've you been?"

He couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm over his appearance, though it didn't seem like that big of a deal to him. "Ugh, I've just been training at NERV. How've you been, Aiko?"

Glad for the question, she let go and looked up at him. "I've been good! It's been boring though. Mayumi doesn't do anything but read at home, and I just do homework. Mom doesn't even let me go out-- says I'm too young. Pfft! You think I'm too young to go out at eight!"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Ummm... I think that's a little too late, since your only twelve..."

She pouted and folded her arms. "Meanie."

Asuka walked in front of the little girl and put her middle finger on the top of her head. "So your the girl Shinji was talking about, huh? You really are short."

Aiko's face turned a bright red when the word 'short' entered her ears. "I'm not short! I'm just adorable! You... you..." Her embarrassment disappeared. "Your Asuka, right?"

"Of course I am. I'm the pilot of Evangelion Unit-02, the great Asuka Langley Soryu!"

"Oh right, I forgot, your the girl that all the boys are talking about." She grinned. "I don't see why though."

"I couldn't care less about those little boys." She placed a hand on her hip. "There's only one man I want."

"A pedophile, maybe."

Asuka's eye twitched. "You've got quite a lip on you, girl."

Shinji grabbed Aiko and placed a hand over her mouth. "It's best not to argue with her. Asuka, I've got some catching up to do, I'll see you in school."

"Yeah, yeah. Later." She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked the short distance to school. The bell was only ten minutes away from ringing, so she walked slow and steadily.

Shinji looked down at Aiko and placed his hand on her head. "Sorry that I haven't talked to you in a while. I didn't want to bother you with you and your new friends."

Aiko grabbed his wrist and made him walk slowly towards the school. "It's alright, Hikari told me about it. I think it's sweet!" The way she blushed when she said it brought out his own blush. "Hehe."

He was hesitant about asking about Mayumi, since she seemed so happy just knowing he was glad to see her, so he held back the question and just enjoyed their conversation on their way to school.

"Hey, Shinji! Stop for a second." He complied and she grinned. "Do me a favor. Carry me!"

"W-Wha? Carry you?" He didn't doubt that he was strong enough to carry her light frame, but the request itself was strange.

"On your shoulders. I don't feel like walking."

He rubbed the back of his head and bent down on one knee. Her grin grew wider, and she leapfrogged onto his back and placed her legs on either side of his head, letting them hang over his shoulders. "Thanks. C'mon, lets go. School's about to start."

She was remarkably light, but he made sure to hold onto her legs, he would never forgive himself if he were to let her fall, and continued on. Aiko all the while reveled in the feeling of the wind through her hair. "You know..." she began quietly, "My dad use to carry me like this..."

Shinji looked at the sidewalk. "Yeah? That seems nice..."

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, though not an awkward silence.

By the time they reach the school gates, much to Shinji's desires, Mayumi stood nearby waiting for someone. He smiled and continued to look at the sidewalk until his presence was too near to ignore. She turned around and smiled before she frowned. "Aiko, the hell are you doing? I-I'm sorry, Shinji, I know she can ask for stupid things, but--"

He bent down on one knee and let the girl get off of his shoulders. "It's okay, really. It was... fun."

Aiko grabbed his arm and smile sheepishly at her sister. "Sure was!"

Mayumi looked down at her sister. She couldn't be mad at her, Shinji looked like he genuinely didn't mind at all, even enjoyed the friendly act. But she couldn't help but tease her dear sister. So she placed her hand on her head and smiled. "Did you enjoy feeling tall, or even of average height, Aiko?"

Shinji and Mayumi both laughed before Aiko started stomping on the ground while yelling about being vertically challenged. While she continued ranting, Mayumi looked at her boyfriend and acted as if he was still just a secret crush. "So, how've you been, Shinji? It's... been a long time, and..." Her right hand clasped her left arm. "... I've missed you." 'That took too much courage to say... what's wrong with me? He's my boyfriend, isn't he?'

He blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "I... I've missed you too, Mayumi. Ummm..." Before the situation got anymore awkward for the young boy, the bell rung, saving him from the embarrassment of saying the wrong thing. "W-We better get to class before we're late."

"Oh... yeah..." The look of disappointment was too strong for Shinji's liking.

"-- and I won't need a phonebook to sit on so I can look over the dashboard when I'm older either, I'll grow--"

He didn't like seeing a frown on her, it seemed to rent his heart violently, like cracks in a dam. So he had to do something, even if only as a token gesture. He grabbed her hand, much to her surprise and flattery, and lead her towards the school. "Let's go." He looked down to the girl still ranting on. "You too, Aiko."

She blushed and looked at their clasped hands the whole way back. 'Finally! Something finally happened!'

The first half of the school day went as usual. Knowledge and tutelage abound. The usual, Touji copied Shinji's work. Kensuke hacked around the school server. Rei stared outside the window when she wasn't taking notes. Asuka bothered and teased Shinji when she could. Mayumi would occasionally stare at Shinji. Aiko would daze off whenever the teacher would go over something she already knew. Hikari watched everyone do the usual.

It was during lunch that the most interesting thing happened. Shinji spent the first part of lunch hanging out with Touji and Kensuke eating their lunches on the rooftop. He left once Hikari busted them and their operation, selling pictures of girls in the locker room, after he made sure that they wouldn't take or sell pictures of Aiko, Mayumi, and Rei. He tried to get a guarantee for Asuka, but they said that demand was too high for them to not try. Luckily, Hikari put a stop to that.

The rest of the day he spent on the hill behind the school that overlooked the awkwardly rooted tree. Since it had been a long time since he enjoyed the soft grass and cool wind, he made sure to lay down and close his eyes. He must have dozed off for awhile, because he woke up to the sight of Ayanami next to him.

"H-Hey, Rei. Sorry, I didn't hear you coming." He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Is there something you need?"

"Need? No, but I would like to speak with you, if you don't mind. I have a question." Her voice was the same, but he could see the curiosity in her eyes. It seemed her disposition was only noticeable in those red irises.

"Okay, go ahead."

"When we were fighting the fifth angel, the geometric shaped one, you carried me."

He had a bad feeling about what was coming. He could feel the heat in his chest and the sweat on his palms that accompanied every bad feeling he had before this one. It seemed like he didn't get enough embarrassment to meet his quota this week.

"At that time, I felt a strange sensation." She placed her hands over her heart. "Right here. It was strange, yet not unpleasant. It was warm, but I paid it no real attention. And then, when we fought against the large thorny angel, and I was defeated, and I saw hold my Eva bring down your own, the feeling returned, but it was cold and it hurt."

He looked at the swaying grass and bit his lip. He hated the feeling of failing his friends.

"Then, when you assured me that we would find a purpose, the feeling was warm again. I am curious as to why I have this feeling and what it is. I do not believe it's a cause for medical concern, so I assumed that you may know what it is."

Shinji sighed. He hoped it wasn't that she liked him in a romantic sense, though his small ego told him that he shouldn't allow the fact that Mayumi liked him get to his head, since that would only complicate things in his life. He rubbed the back of his head. "Umm... well, I guess it could be that you were happy."

"Happy? About what?"

"Well, when I helped you, you felt warm, right? You must have been happy."

She looked at her shoes. "Perhaps. But then, when it was cold, I was saddened over losing control of the Eva?"

"Y-Yeah... I suppose so. Or maybe didn't like seeing your friend get hurt."

Rei looked at him. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Just a though," he said. But, as far as she was concerned, it must have been accurate. "I believe so. Suffocating you Eva was not a pleasant moment."

'So blunt...' "I'm sure it wasn't..."

Before they could go on discussing the past few weeks, and Ayanami's feelings, a rather loud voice was heard at the bottom of the hill. Both looked at the redheaded girl that waved towards both of them. It was Asuka, of course. "Hey, Shinji! First! What are you two doing up there without inviting me? Gettin' all lovey-dovey?"

Shinji sighed. "No. And it's not like we said you couldn't come up here."

The loud and enthusiastic girl ran up towards the hill, plopping down on the other side of Shinji, doing her best to avoid the eyes of the First Child. "So what's going on anyway? Doesn't seem to be much happening up here either."

Shinji would have said something, but he was cut off by Asuka's stomach growling. "Ah... hehe."

"Shut-up! I didn't get up early enough to make lunch and I didn't bring any money with me. It's not funny." She folded her arms and huffed, laying down on the soft green grass beneath her. Much to her surprise, she opened her eyes to see a bento hanging in front of her nose. She looked at the box and the hand that held it. "What's this?"

"I didn't finish it, and Touji had already eaten part of Kensuke's lunch, so I figured you could have the rest." He smiled and dropped the obento onto her lap.

She opened the lacquer box and dug into its contents. It was almost as tasty as the room service at her hotel, she noted. "Mmmhhmmm! This is good! Who made it?"

"I did. I get up and make Misato's lunch too, since she complains about not having the money to buy her lunch and beer." He rubbed the back of his head once again and laughed.

"You cook, Shinji?" The voice was soft, but recognizable.

"Yeah, but I don't think I'm that good. I just think that Misato thinks its better than instant food, I guess. Do you cook too, Rei?"

"Yes, I prepare my own meals."

"Then would you like to try some of mine? I'm sure we shar--" His voice was cut off when he Asuka drop his chopsticks onto the bento, sigh, and then lay on the grass once again. "Maybe some other time, I guess."

"That will not be necessary. I do not eat meat."

"Your a vegetarian...? I never knew. Maybe you could teach me how to make some vegetarian dishes in our free time, huh?" He honestly didn't know how he could pull that off, but he enjoyed actually holding a conversation with a girl without blushing and stuttering uncontrollably. "If you want to, that is."

"I would enjoy that."

The wind picked up slightly, gently moving through the threes' hair. The pilots were finally together, and even though it would be for a short time, they were in a sort of peace.

--

Her friends had left her side at her request, promising to tell them what happened later. She had sent Aiko home and Hikari already had Asuka distracted. Rei had left for her home as well. Touji and Kensuke received clean up duty thanks to Hikari, and everything was going according to plan. She had him all to herself, for the first time in too long of a time.

She went to the front of the school, since he had already left the classroom, and managed to catch him at the school steps. Mayumi walked up to him, grabbing his arm from behind and squeezing gently. He was surprised. Shinji was always easy to surprise, it was something she loved to provoke in him. "M-Mayumi?"

She falsely pouted. "How did you know it was me?"

He sighed happily. "I didn't know, I..." He decided it would be okay to be bold, even if just once, "I was just hoping out loud."

She was taken aback. It was utterly flattering, those simple words, but it not so much those words as it was the way he so hesitantly said them. She doubted that she would catch too much sleep that night. "Y-Your embarrassing me, Shinji..." She looked down and let go of his arm. "Shinji... I haven't seen you a lot, and... umm... do you want to go somewhere? The weekend just started and all. So it might be fun to just do something... just the two of us."

Shinji blinked. It was an unexpected request, but that's what couples did, wasn't it? He smiled and suppressed his blush slightly. "Sure. Misato won't be back until tomorrow morning, so I don't have anything to do."

Her russet eyes shone brightly, but she smiled at the sidewalk instead of him. "Hah ah, let me just get m-my bike. If I knew that I was going on a walk I wouldn't have to brought it, but I can't just leave it here." She ran beneath a tree and unchained the bicycle from it's trunk, tossing the chain into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She ran back and, in her excitement, ran out of breath. "He-he... sorry, I guess it's just heavy."

For some reason, he saw Mr. Kaji in his mind's eye, with that same suave look on his unshaven face, telling him that it would be the best option to carry it for her. So he followed his advice and took her shoulder bag. "I'll carry it for you..."

She blushed and pushed a bang away from her glasses. "T-Thanks... Umm. We should leave now, I don't want to waste time just standing in school."

They walked out of the school together and walked nowhere in particular. Neither knew what to say, but they stayed in each other's company nonetheless. No one discussed where they would go, but they followed where the wind blew strongest, where the sun glowed more intensely, and where the city sound dissipated.

The sun glowed a gentle gold in the sky, making the skies sparkle in the nearing night sky. It had been an hour since they had began their walk, but it felt like minutes to each of them. Along the way, Mayumi gathered her courage and wrapped her arm around his arm and, even though they were nearly the same height, she leaned her head on his shoulder.

They found themselves at the outlook they were at the first day of his arrival. It was the same as the last time, alive with vegetation and with an old forest behind it. Unlike the last time, there was a large fallen tree that was still rooted, somehow, to the ground which hung off the hill for a few meters. It didn't keep his attention for long, though. He looked at the girl that held his arm and smiled stupidly at her. She blushed, but returned the smile. 'He's nervous. That's so cute.'

They sat on the fallen tree and stared at the fortress city, the same as they did after they first met. The sky was golden orange, the same color which scared her near death, but with Shinji next to her, the vague image burnt into her mind did not appear, but there was only one way to make sure. She let go of his arm and took off her glasses.

"Hmm? Something wrong, Mayumi?"

"No... I just want to make sure of something. Close your eyes."

"M-My eyes? Why?"

"Just do it, please? For me?"

"I... Sure." He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. He wasn't sure what she was up to, but the way she asked him to do something was too much for him. Compliance was the only option. Soon enough, he felt the cold tinge of her glasses on his face once again. He opened his eyes to see Mayumi looking straight into his eyes, her own russet eyes sparkling in the reflection of the setting sun. "Mayumi...?"

"It... nothing happened... nothing happened!" She seemed overjoyed at nothing. She threw her arms across his neck and embraced him tightly, repeating over and over "Nothing happened!". It was strange, but all Shinji could do was to hug her slim frame and keep his balance on the tree. "Nothing happened... Shinji! I'm so happy!"

"About what? Nothing?"

"Exactly!"

"Huh? What are you saying?"

Without warning, without her even truly knowing why, she pressed her lips against his own, feeling the cold touch of her glasses and his warm breath on her lips. His eyes went wide, but he soon was lost in the soft tenderness of her lips. He closed his eyes and brought her closer. Shinji was well aware of his clumsiness, but she was doing all of the real work. She pressed closer and continued to kiss him, and he returned each kiss with nervous pressure.

They continued until the orange sun dimmed into the midnight nocturne. She might be in trouble with her mother, he thought, but he couldn't find it in his heart to say to her pleas of staying a bit longer. He sat on the side of the tree, letting his back rest against the trunk, and stroked her hair as she snuggled against his chest.

"What did I do to deserve this? I don't deserve someone like you..." His voice was wearily impassioned.

Her eyes were nearly closed, she was weary from a reason lost to her conscious. It seemed that stamina was just wasn't in her. Even still, she forced her eyes to never more than blink, since a second more could cause her dream to sudden vanish. She would wake up in her bed, cursing herself for letting her needs take over her mind. She didn't want that.

"Stop saying things like that..."

"It's true, though."

"No, it's not. Your just being... well... yourself. Have some confidence in yourself. It's... attractive when you do." She was clearly emboldened by their previous show of affection. She just hoped she wasn't being too bold.

He looked upwards to the black silk and jewel scattered night sky. "I... I guess I could try. But it's not like I'll take back my words. I meant them."

She was too tired to argue, so she let it rest for now. "You'll take them back eventually. Even if I have to force you to." She smiled coyly and stuck out her tongue when he placed the glasses back on over her eyes. "Stop it. If you..." She trailed a finger through the soft dirt. "If you keep doing things like that... I won't be able to get you out of my thoughts, and then I'll get lonely when you leave to train again."

He rubbed the back of his head and mumbled an apology. "Sorry..."

She blinked at him, then slapped his chest playfully, and laughed at his inability to deal with her flirting.

There was a rustle in the leaves. It was far too loud to be a small animal and far too close to feel safe. Shinji looked towards the direction of the rustling leaves and slowly began pushing Mayumi away from the source, while she quickly withdrew the pepper spray her mother gave her from her shoulder bag. Shinji stood up, stood in front of Mayumi, and clenched his fist, hoping at least that he could distract an assailant long enough for her to get away.

Fortunately for both of them, from the shadows came a flicker of red ash and a suave voice that Shinji recognized immediately. "Hey kids, hope I'm not stopping anything memorable."

"W-Who are you!"

Shinji placed a hand over the shaking pepper spray in Mayumi's own. "Don't worry, it's just Mr. Kaji." He rubbed the back of his head nervously. 'She's really shaking...' "Hey, what are you doing out in the middle of nowhere anyway, Mr. Kaji?"

"Who, me?" Oh, I'm just keeping an eye on the famous Third Child and his little lady."

Mayumi moved behind Shinji and peered over his shoulder, still not trusting the man before her, despite how casually Shinji spoke to him. "W-Why are you keeping an eye on us?"

The man took a puff from his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and stepping on the dying embers. It was rude to smoke when there was a young girl present, after all. "Shinji. It seems that there have been a few things that you-- and you, Ms. Yamagishi --need to be aware of."

Shinji looked at the trembling girl behind him. 'She's really scared...' "Mr. Kaji..."

The old man looked confused before he got the clue. He sighed and laughed at himself. "I'm sorry, how rude of me, I'm Ryuji Kaji, a special agent of NERV." He extended his hand and received a nervous hand shake. He chuckled it off and returned to what he had to say. "As I was saying, I've got some things to say, but it would be in your best interest to keep just between the two of you. First, try to stay near each other as much as possible. Remain inseparable."

Shinji keep hold the girl's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Not that that's a problem, but why?"

"I'll explain later. Second, whenever you hear the sirens, even if it isn't an angel attack, you must head into NERV HQ, Ms. Yamagishi. Lastly, stay close to me, both of you, whenever I'm in sight."

His voice was serious, and that made both of them all the more nervous. "What's all this about, Mr. Kaji? Why are you telling us all of this?"

"There are certain organizations that are working against NERV, and even some working with them, that would rather take the Evangelions and the knowledge of the AT Field than simply financially supporting them. Normally this isn't a problem since the UN is constantly working to protect NERV from terrorists and other ill-intentioned groups, but there has been some dangerous changes going on."

Shinji was starting to worried. Who would want the burden of the Evangelions other than himself and the psycho redhead comrade of his? Why was NERV being attacked? Weren't they saving the world? It just didn't make sense.

"Here." He handed the young boy an ID card with Mayumi's picture on it. "Since she's the daughter of an employee she has severely restricted movement in NERV, but with this she can follow around inside when she's with you or any of the other pilots."

"W-Why isn't Misato telling me this? If we're in danger then--"

"I'm telling you ahead of time. Katsuragi is far too concern with other matters to deal with what the UN should be doing. Besides, I know more than I should, so whatever I tell you, must be kept secret."

This didn't matter to her at the moment. She was just concerned over one thing, one person. "What about little sister, Aiko? Can't she come with me?"

Kaji looked over at her worried expression and sighed. "I'll see what strings I can pull. The Commander is aware of almost everything I do. But, as long as Shinji or Katsuragi is nearby, you don't have much to worry over." He looked at his watch and frowned. "Time's up. I'll explain everything to you two some other time."

There was still too many questions in his head left unanswered. Shinji called out for him, but the man left silently into the forest and waved goodbye, lighting a fresh cigarette from his shirt pocket. "Sorry to interrupt you two," he said with a tinge of regret.

Mayumi's grip on his shoulder and arm was tighter than it was in the beginning of the conversation, more so that it even hurt, but the thing that was bothering Shinji was the way she shook against his back. It was unnerving. He turned around and grabbed her wrist, attempting to return a stillness in her, and placed his hand on her forehead. "Mayumi, are you alright? Your trembling a lot..."

She shook her head and took his hand. She wanted to go home. "Yes, I'm just... cold. That's all. Would you mind walking me home? It's pretty dark out."

He placed an arm around her still quivering shoulder and kept her moving at a brisk pace. 'Just what the hell was all that about, anyway? Who would want the what NERV does? It's dangerous. It's too weird...'

Even this early in the events to come, Kaji shadowed the two middle school students to the young girl's home. Running through allies, jumping fences, scaling scaffolding, he kept pursuit of the two students, making sure no harm would come to the two. The Third Child was important. He was sure of it-- more so than a pilot of an Evangelion. But the girl was the real target of ill intentions. For some reason still unknown to him, she was the cause of many things. Both good and bad.

He took a huff from his cigarette and sat on the rooftop of the building that overlooked the girl's home. He dialed a number on his cell phone and waited for the ringing to end. "Hello, Ms. Yamagishi, I'm calling on the behalf of NERV. Your daughter, Mayumi Yamagishi, was under NERV custody just to clear some paperwork from prior events... yes... yes this involves the incident with her and Shinji Ikari... yes... yes... no, it's nothing to worry over. Yes, as a result she had to go home rather late. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Yes, a pleasant evening to you as well."

He clicked the button and called Shinji's cell phone next. 'It'd be a bad thing if he were torn apart by another mother, right Katsuragi?"

--

To be Continued.

--

Author's Notes: Coquettishly-- I like how that sounds. This is the second to last chapter of Catalyst. Book 2 comes when I stop being lazy.

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy. Don't sue, cause I'm already broke. You'll probably lose money in the process, too.

Thank you for all the reviews, even the bad ones.

They are all very appreciated and are used to make sure you enjoy and understand my piece.

This is the tenth and final chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

**Catalyst**

By: XxRagnarokxX88

It had been months since the last time an angel came, and Shinji was thankful for that. He had finally been able to catch up to his schoolwork, even get ahead to some extent, and generally enjoy his youth years. Though it was quiet at the moment, it was hectic before the peace he was in now. Asuka had taken care of the first angel after their duet against the twins. She was dunked inside of a volcano to try and retrieve an angel fetus inside the magma chamber, but it hadn't turned out that well. She had managed to kill the angel with the help of a thermodynamics lesson and a progressive knife, but her cables had snapped, almost sending her into a searing and crushing death; luckily though, he was there to save her. He had disregarded orders to not interfere with the operation and jumped into the magma, scorching his Eva's purple armor, and caught the red Evangelion's hand before it went deeper into the Earth.

He received a scolding from his guardian, but also praise for saving the redhead's life from her as well. So he took it as a positive and let it be. Soon thereafter, once Rei's Eva was back from the workshop in a new ultramarine color, they have made their first joint operation taking down the spider angel that was dripping acid into the heart of NERV. It was easily dispatched with the help of Unit-02 as a shield for Shinji to take the shoot into the angel's center. Of course, Asuka took that as an opportunity to settle the score between she and him. He only laughed and agreed.

Then there was his most important person, the one for whom he turned himself into a shield for, the bookworm Mayumi. He didn't consider her as much, a bookworm sounded too harsh to his ears, but she did. It seemed all she did was read whenever she was at home not taking care of Aiko. Though they were quiet about their relationship, and even dropped from mainstream gossip, they still did not talk much during school. He felt it was a good thing since he now found himself living under the same roof with Asuka. Shinji knew she was insecure about herself, almost as much as he was, so he felt that Mayumi would not want to deal with that fact tumbling in her conscious.

Unfortunately, a day or two after the defeat of the spider angel, the three pilots had faced the largest angel ever to attack NERV, one that orbited in space and fell like a star to the earth to try to kill them, kill her. Shinji remembered that fight in detail, since it was there that he reveled in the feeling of victory, and let himself gain some self-confidence. But also a day that brought regret.

_"It's over Cocos Island Station... Obsat-6 has target on visual! Now on main screen!"_

_On the main monitor floated an angel of gargantuan proportions. It's body was just an oblong shaped mass of orange angel flesh with an intimidating eye in the center. It's two 'arms' were vaguely similar to hands, even having five appendages around the dead eyes that made up the center of the arms. Even if she had to kill it, the angel reminded Misato of the design of a butterflies' wings. She threw the thought away and stared hard into it's eye._

_The screen changed and showed a large wave centering near the Coco's Islands. "Look at the size of that. It's an offensive use of its A.T. Field."_

_Maya typed away at the keyboard and the image zoomed out to show two similar craters on sea and land closing in on NERV Headquarters. "The angel uses a piece of itself as a bomb, detaching a portion of its mass. Combined with the kinetic energy gained in its fall from space, the impact force is immense."_

_Misato rubbed her chin. "Those are hits from it's first and second pass, both in the ocean. It's clearly begun to correct for error. It's in a 119 minute orbit. Pull back..." Maya pulled the image back to the angel floating over Earth. "It's sighting in!"_

_Flashes and blasts could be see surrounding the angel, to no apparent affect. "That's the intercept by our N2 Bombs. Damage to target still unknown."_

_Aoba turned around from his post after the screen turned to static. "We've lost visual and tracking ECM from the angel."_

_Misato sighed. "Well, we can guess where it's going."_

_Ritsuko looked towards Misato. "The next one's on Tokyo-3. Then it'll use its entire mass to try and gouge us right out of the Earth. A kamikaze angel, I would suppose."_

_At the moment, there seemed to be no way to stop an angel in orbit, so she would have to look for assistance for this operation. "Can you raise Commander Ikari in Antarctica?"_

_"No, Major." Maya addressed her by new title, "This is on the scale of a S-5 Solar storm; there's a complete blackout of high frequency communications over the polar regions, even the ULF channel is out."_

_Misato looked down at her boots but turned back up, not wanting to show defeat in the eye of that angel. "The pilots are here. Once they're suited, have them inside their Evas."_

_"Yes, major."_

_  
While everyone was preparing for the next angel battle and the pilots were changing into their plugsuits, Mayumi and Aiko stood outside of the men's changing room, waiting for Shinji to finish. While Mayumi nervously fidgeted around and hoped to not get in trouble for being inside NERV HQ, Aiko tried her to best to discreetly looked inside the locker room where Shinji was currently changing. The look of a guilty pleasure was on her face, along with a burning blush, was present on her face when she turned away from the door and looked at the wall opposite of her._

_When Shinji walked out of the locker room he found Mayumi and Aiko waiting for him not knowing what to do, and Aiko with a heavy blush for some reason or another. He didn't know what to do, so he rubbed the back of his head._

_Luckily, he was saved by the man who had caused the young girls to enter NERV. "Yo, Shinji!"_

_"Mr. Kaji. Where did you come from?"_

_"That's not important. What is important is for you to go stop the next angel from crushing our bones into dust."_

_Aiko and Mayumi swallowed hard at his tasteless joke. Shinji looked at the two and back to him. "I brought them here, but what are they suppose to do while I'm gone? Are they safe just walking around the halls?"_

_Kaji gave his usual suave smile and put his hands into his pockets. "Don't worry, I'll take care of your little lady and..." He gawked down at the younger of the two siblings. "... the littler lady, too." He received a kick to his shin for his bluntness on her height. "Ow!"_

_  
"Shave that stubble off your face before you start talking about peoples' height!" She was then slapped upside her head by the older sister. "Ow!" She grumbled and bowed her head. "Sorry, Mr. Kaji."_

_He grinned at the youth. "It was my fault anyway, the apology should be mine. Now, c'mon you two, if you two are here, Shinji might not want to leave."_

_The two girls followed the agent of NERV around the corner and disappeared out of sight. Shinji felt somewhat better now that the safety of the two girls was no longer a big issue. He also knew that their mother was inside of NERV. Everything was a go. The only thing that was left was to defeat the angel that would try and destroy them all._

_He ran down the hall towards the elevator to the Eva cages. He found himself at the elevator with Rei, since Asuka was already inside her Unit-02 waiting rather impatiently for 'the idiot and his girlfriend'._

_"Rei! Why aren't you in your Eva already? I thought I was the only one late."_

_"Everyone is currently on stand-by until preparations are done, so I waited." She was blunt, but it was a reasonable excuse to be there, so he didn't pay much heed. He smiled and stepped onto the elevator, as did she, and pressed the button that would lead them behind the curtains._

_They got into their respective Evangelions quickly. Rei waited calmly in her seat, eyes closed in some sort of meditation before battle. Shinji was fortunate enough to receive a scolding by the redheaded pilot about being late and several other insults that flew into his brain and out his ears. 'Did she call me flaccid...?'_

_All three Evangelions were now in position. All three formed a triangle defense in the city in order to maneuver around the fortress city with some ease. The angel's area of descent was wide, and it called for desperate measures._

_Asuka's Eva stood in the more residential area of Tokyo-3, waiting nervously. "This is insane... some great plan Misato came up with. 'Catch the angel with it falls! Your Evas have hands, right!'"_

_The redheads' worried rants were cut off by the major. "Did you say something about my plan, Asuka?"_

_She turned away. "Nothing."_

_Misato turned communications with all three pilots onto the main screen and placed the topography map of the angel's drop zone. "Listen up pilots, we don't have an exact location for you, but using the data we collected up to the point of radio jamming began, Magi has calculated an estimate radius for the fall point. I know it's big, but you can confirm the exact point, you'll need to run to it as fast as you can, and then catch the angel, using your A.T. Field at maximum."_

_Behind her the door opened to reveal Kaji with the two Yamagishi sisters. She looked at the three seriously and then towards Shinji, who followed suit with Rei's meditation technique before battle. She sighed knowingly. 'He must have set this up. I'll have to talk to him later. He picked a bad time to do this.'_

_"Unfortunately, I didn't have time to talk to you earlier, so if you have something in mind for your will, now's the time to do it-- quickly, before the angel begins attacking us."_

_Aiko's and Mayumi's blood stopped cold when the word 'will' entered their ears. It seemed such a terrible thing to say before going out to defend the world._

_  
Asuka though about for a second before giving her smug grin towards the major. "I don't need a will because I'm not going to die." Misato smiled at her. 'That a girl, Asuka.'_

_Rei did not hesitate. "There is no point."_

_Shinji opened his eyes and looked to the girls behind the major, their almost pleading expressions making his heart wrench, and closed his eyes again. He had to survive in order for them to live. They would be his inspiration. "I won't be dying today. Just promise to treat us all to something later, okay Misato?"_

_Misato smiled at her maturing boy. "Sure. Whatever you want." She looked towards her fake blonde friend. "Doesn't he seem a bit more willing to do this? It's a weird, but good thing, right?"_

_"Would you rather have the old, depressed Shinji?"_

_Misato folded her arms and deadpanned. "You old bitch." She was joking to some extent._

_Ritsuko's expression darkened. "The old part was uncalled for."_

_  
Everyone in the Command Center stared at the main screen as the image of the angel once again appeared on screen. "We've got it back on visual! It's entered the atmosphere! Altitude 25km and falling... maximum magnification!" The image zoomed in on the angel as it fell from space towards the Earth._

_The spirit for battle was once again in the eyes of the tactician, as well as the redheaded pilot. Rei and Shinji simply opened their eyes with determined frown. "It's here! All Eva units-- start! Magi now estimates fall point in area B2! Just run until you make contact with the target! The rest is up to you guys!"_

_A weight was lifted off the back of each Evangelion. "Purge external power supply!"_

_Shinji made the call. "Let's move out!"_

_Like the runners of the past, the Evangelions leapt from their stance and ran towards the designated coordinate. Running furiously the passed buildings, mountains, and homes, they rushed through it all, passing through the city in the blink of an eye._

_The sisters stared dumbfounded at the speed of the humanoid giants. They were going so fast, so fast it seemed impossible for anything so large to move so fluidly, but they were doing it._

_Asuka's Unit-02 tore through the city's man made river, following the path towards the center of the city. Rei's Unit-00 ran through the forests, it's single optical eye never leaving sight of the angel of the sky. It was Shinji who would get there first. His Eva sprinted through the bottoms, further cracking the buildings that were already in desperate need of repair-- but it mattered not, not now. All he wanted to do was get it over with, to kill the menacing eye in the sky and return to the two sisters._

_He gripped the controls tightly and the Eva listened to his whispered cries to go faster. Like twigs beneath a stallion's hooves, the Eva crushed the cars beneath it's feet; the young horseman, pulling the reigns, guided the steed towards the enemy which threatens the women who mean everything to him. The streets pavement was pulled asunder and the buildings shook as the purple Eva leapt from the mountainside and took to the skies before landing on the outskirts of the city and seeing his target._

_Shinji reached it first, he could see the eye swirling and tearing the clouds beneath it, with a hiss of determination he skid on the forest floor and stood underneath the angel. The horseman looked up at the menacing eye. "Spreading A.T. Field!"_

_The buildings near him were blown away by the cyclone that was his A.T. Field. He could feel something in him light up and strain his body. Something left him and surrounded him, taking his energy, his chi, his chakra, his soul, his spirit-- he cared not what it was-- and strained his heart. The Eva raised it's arms as a man would lift his own were they made of lead above it's head._

_The angel must have felt the A.T. Field, but it was too close to stop it's descent. Bitterly, it must have been, it sent it's two arms off it's body, letting only it's center eye to collide with Unit-01._

_The strain was enormous on his chest, so much that he could feel it thumping against his ribs relentlessly. But now he had other concerns, namely the two other ticking time bombs heading towards the city. He saw Asuka and Rei next to him on the vid screen. He grit his teeth under the pressure, and said, "Asuka! Rei! The arms! It took them off and they're going to hit the city! Catch them!"_

_The red and blue Evangelions skid to a halt at the sound of Shinji's aching voice. One arm was heading towards the residential area of the city and the other to the high rise buildings. The two Units split at the crossroads and headed their separates ways, rushing towards the quickly falling oranges masses._

_Rei looked at her vid screen to see Shinji's cringing face. "Shinji! Will you be able to hold out?" He didn't respond with his voice, he only shook his head. The cold feeling in her chest was returning, and she knew what it was this time._

_Asuka reached the estimated area of impact. There were many homes around, so she put up her A.T. Field only after she raised her arms and concentrated the barrier above the scarlet hands. She strained in her seat when the weight passed through her Eva and onto her frame, sinking onto the Throne of the Soul but not willing to admit defeat. "This is nothing! Have you gotten there yet, First!"_

_The ultramarine Eva ran back through the city and saw the arm of the angel nearing the high rise buildings underneath it's eye. Rei pulled at the controls and the Eva leapt up onto an armory building. The Eva continued to leapt up until it reached the highest building under the angel._

_"Spreading A.T. Field to maximum." The building underneath the Eva shook as Rei expanded her A.T. Field and the angel collided with the hexagonal barrier she placed. She sank on the throne and held strong onto the dual controls._

_Each part of the angel was now over an Evangelion, each holding out against impossible pressure on their arms and shoulders._

_Misato looked at the main monitor to see all three Evangelions at a stalemate. She grit her teeth. "Asuka, Rei, Shinji-- use your progressive knife to cut through the A.T. Field and attack the center of their eyes!" She looked at Shinji's screen and knew that he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.  
_

_Unit-00 and 02 kept one arm to spread their A.T. Field and the other to unsheathe their progressive knife. With a cry from each girl, they slashed at their own A.T. Field and drove the blade into the center of the eye, to no avail. The progressive knife went in but did nothing._

_"What the hell happened! Why aren't the knives working?"_

_Misato looked at the three Evangelions and grimaced at the truth. "Shinji, your going to have to attack the center of the angel or we'll be stuck this way until we can't hold out any longer!"_

_Shinji's arms began to spasm under the weight of the angel. "Pilot's heart rate has become erratic! Heart rate raising above tolerable BPM! Major!"_

_"Shinji! You have to end it now! Do it!"_

_With little if any strength left in his arms the Evangelion's feet sunk into the Earth beneath it, uprooting whatever life may have grown there. Shinji looked saw Rei straining, he saw Asuka faking a determined grin, he saw the fearful look of Misato, Ritusko, and Maya, and he saw Mr. Kaji and the girls in front of him, deathly afraid for his life. He hated how it was all up to him, he hated the pressure of it all, but he would do it, even with the fire in his chest he would be his end._

_The Evangelion roared like an enraged beast from the depths of the abyss, once again ripping off the useless frontal jaw joint, and used one hand to hold the angel upward. The pressure was too great. The Evangelion unsheathed the progressive knife from it's shoulder wing, but fell onto one knee._

_"The frontal jaw has been ripped off! Is it berserk?" Maya asked fearfully._

_Kaji looked at the Evangelion with interest. "No, Shinji's synchronization has increased." He looked down to see the youngest Yamagishi with tears building up in her eyes. He looked to his right to see the older sister trying her best to be strong, wanting to yell something to him but having a throat too dry to scream it. They shouldn't have been there, but it was the only way._

_The purple titan slashed at the A.T. Field and ripped it open long enough to clear a opening. With a deafening cry the knife was thrust deep into the core of the angel, splitting the red iris and piercing it's soul. It was over._

_The two arms of the angel fell on top of the red and blue Evangelions, not even exploding like the bombs they were suppose to be, and dropped off the stage. The giant eye, the angel's center, fell over the downed Evangelion and exploded on top of it, creating a crater large enough to become a lake._

_The angel was defeated, but they pilot was also defeated._

_Before Mayumi could scream out his name, before Aiko could cry in relief, even before Misato could call the pilot retrieval team, the blue-haired enigma cried out his name and came to his rescue. The rest, he could not remember._

That was the way of things. He had done it again, saved the world from the angels at the cost of his health. Not that he wouldn't do it again, but he hated it when it was said, since it sounded like he did it for a reason other than to save lives, like he wanted something in return.

After that incident, he was in the NERV hospital for a day or two-- he couldn't remember how long exactly --but he awoke to a pleasant image. By his bedside sat the blue-haired girl that had saved him by taking him quickly towards the escape route. She had told him that Mayumi and Aiko were not present was because of their clearance level. They could enter as soon as he was conscious, but he was not to allow them into the command center during a battle again.

He felt good; not physically, but he felt good about protecting his friends. He felt like he could do anything.

It then that something both expected and unexpected happened. After Rei had left to inform the sisters about his condition, he was visited by the good doctor.

She came in with her lab notebooks and looked him over. "It's seems you doing a lot better, Shinji. You gave us quite a scare, you know?"

He lifted himself up and sat up on the bed. "I'm sorry..."

"Oh, don't be. It's part of my job to make sure your alright." She put the cold stethoscope to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. He only flinched at the cold metal. "Is your chest okay? Your heartbeat was strange while you were out there. Have you had any other problems around that area?"

He contemplated telling her about the times he would feel the fire in chest when he was under stress, and the blood that he would spit out after the blaze would turn to embers, but he didn't want to bother her. "Hmm... no, I've been f-fine."

She raised her eyebrow. 'Misato was right. He really is a bad liar.' "Shinji," she made her voice less professional, but still kept it serious, "if there's something wrong with you, you have to tell me. Even with the strain of that fight, a healthy teenager doesn't just have a heart episode. There's something your not telling me."

"Well... it's nothing serious, really..."

Ritsuko took off her glasses. "I'm waiting."

"It's nothing serious, it's just--"

The hospital door opened to reveal the raven hair and emerald-green eyes he both adored and dreaded. The little girl, now in her coral-colored shirt and skirt, grinned stupidly at Shinji. Without a second thought, she rushed towards him and landed on his chest, much to his misfortune.

"Ow! Aiko, that hurts!"

She sat on his lap and looked at the bandages around his chest which she had somehow missed on her first glance. It pricked her tiny heart. She got off of his lap and looked at the floor with her head hung low. "I-I'm sorry, Shinji. I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Ritsuko looked at their interaction with some interest. Shinji sighed and stood on the cold hospital floor. "N-No... it's okay, I'm sorry for yelling."

"No, I'm sorry!" She pleaded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--"

"No! I said that I'm sorry, an--"

"Would you two cut it out? Your going to be apologizing to each other all day." Mayumi leaned on the doorframe and then walked over to Shinji. She smiled sweetly at him before flicking his forehead. She frowned at his confusion. "You had me scared to death!"

He sat back down on the bed. "I'm sorry, Mayumi, I just--"

She hugged him tightly, pushing him onto the bed halfway. "Don't apologize for saving my life, I told you that!"

With a furious blush, he hugged back and chuckled nervously at Ritsuko's gentle laughter. "M-Mayumi, your not making sense..."

Realizing she was drunk on the sight of him, she got off of him and returned to her meek self. "I-I'm sorry Shinji, it's that you were hurt and, and--"

"So how are you feeling, Shin-chan? Besides stiff, of course," Misato teased openly and playfully. Her tease brought a heavy blush and a sharp intake of air on Mayumi's part and a stuttering plea for a ends of teasing on Shinji's part. "Hehe, I miss doing that."

"M-Misato, quit teasing me!"

"But it's so fun!" She walked over to her Shin-chan and hugged him, intentionally pressing her breasts too close to his face for Mayumi's comfort. "So where do you wanna go eat? You beat the angel, after all-- bye Rits!" She waved as the doctor left to attend to NERV business.

"Hmm, well, I don't really care, as long as everyone can go." He got up from the bed and placed a hand over Aiko's head. "How about we go get some ramen? It's not that expensive and Rei can get some vegetarian food there." Though he did not see, Mayumi flinched at the name he said so dotingly.

"Alright, I'll go pick up Rei from her place, and then I'll come back for you guys." She stood in front of Shinji, right in front of Mayumi's view, and smiled at him. "No kiss on the cheek?"

"W-What?" He backed up a little.

"Awww, c'mon, Shinji. I was scared that I'd never see you again..." She pleaded sweetly. He blushed and frowned but shook his head in agreement. Inside her mind, she grinned evilly. He closed in to give her a peck on the cheek before she quickly turned and let him give her a quick kiss on the lips.

His eyes shot open and he backed away with a head as red as Unit-02. "M-M-Misa-sato!"

She giggled and walked away. "Bye-bye, Shinji!"

Mayumi stood with her mouth nearly touching the tiled floor. 'I-I can't believe... did she really... in front of me? She didn't... I'm hallucinating, I'm hallucinating...!'

Aiko blinked. "Wow, you kissed a grow-up, Shinji... can I--"

"No, you cannot!" Mayumi quickly intervened.

She pouted and sat on the chair near the bed. "Meanie..." she looked at the red boy on the hospital bed, "... we'll talk later."

"No, you wont!" Out of jealousy, she marched over to Shinji and sat next to him; but insecurity is hard to get rid of. "Was... was she better than me?"

The hospital door once again slid open to reveal another visitor for the young Ikari. In a female business suit came the eldest woman he knew, the mother Yamagishi. She blinked at seeing the young boy with bandages around his chest; he really did have a difficult job, she thought.

Shinji's spine straightened at the sight of that particular mother. "Ms. Yamagishi. I... It's nice to see you again." He bowed his head slightly.

Aiko leapt from her seat and allowed her mother to sit down, partially since it would be proper of her and partially since it made her mother feel old. She took the seat and Aiko jumped onto her lap. "How have you been, Mr. Ikari? It's been awhile."

The fact that Mayumi was next to him, dangling her legs off the hospital bed, didn't make it any easier to talk to her. "Hmm... I've been okay-- well, except for my chest. But it doesn't matter, it'll heal."

"Does it hurt much?"

"Oh, well I-I'll survive. I think I've had worse before."

"Mom! You want to come eat with us?" chirped in the youngest Yamagishi.

Mayumi rested her head on the boy's shoulder and looked sharply at her sister. Aiko ignored her and continued on cheerily. "We're going to have a victory dinner! 'Cause Shinji did such a good job."

"Oh... if it's alright with you, Mr. Ikari, I would love to go. The damage done to the city was minimal, so I do have a chance to enjoy life outside the underground."

"I-I'd love it if you came too, Ms. Yamagishi."

After some time, Misato returned with Asuka and Rei. There were too many people to take in one car, but somehow they managed to squirm inside and make it to the surface of Tokyo-3. (Author's Note: They got Mexican with it!) They ate at a small ramen stand near Shinji's and Misato's apartment.

Mayumi, if he remembered correctly, seemed to fidget in her seat when he ordered the same thing as Rei, the garlic ramen without meat. Aiko ordered the same thing as the redheaded girl, though the glare she gave her probably meant it was out of spite; the pork ramen. He was teased by Misato, of course, as well.

The thing that stayed in his mind was his conversation with the mother Yamagishi.

He was sitting next to her and Mayumi the whole time, but once they were done, the mother had asked the young boy to accompany her home. Not a strange request, but she had asked once everyone entered the car and Misato was ready to drop off everyone. He agreed.

It wasn't that late at night, but the street lights were on. Quietly, they walked on the sidewalk towards their home. The moon was returning, becoming full once again, she noticed. She looked up to the moon and stars whenever he looked down, almost as if she was politely mocking his nervousness.

"You know, Mr. Ikari... I am well aware of you and your relationship with my daughter." She said all too casually.

He gulped and continued to look at the ground. Only he could have had such terrible luck, he thought dismally. "Is... Is that why you wanted me to walk home with you?"

"Well, there is that. But I also wanted to simply talk to you; maybe even figure out this strange nostalgic feeling I have whenever I look at you, or hear one of my daughters mention you." She looked at his nervous frown and smiled politely at him. "You should be flattered. My youngest is quite infatuated with you. Your her first crush-- it's cute really, the way she puts on a brave face when Mayumi talks about you."

Something in the pit of his stomach felt empty and cold, like someone took out his liver and placed an ice brick inside. "I'm sorry..."

She looked down at him. "I'm sorry? For what?-- Oh, I forgot. Mayumi mentioned how you apologize for many things, even if you didn't do anything, or did something good."

"I'm... never mind." 'Mayumi doesn't like it when I do that either', he thought sadly. "So... how's work been, Ms. Yamagishi?"

"Oh, I'm head of the reconstruction crew, so I usually just do the paper shoveling, but I've been holding my own in the yard. We women can be both tough and dainty, right, Mr. Ikari?"

"Y-Yeah." He shoved his hands in his pockets and continued to walk her home. It seemed a lot shorter when he was walking home with Mayumi.

"So what do you and my daughter do when you find the time outside of NERV?"

"N-Nothing really. We sometimes just walk around, or go to the library. Every time I'm there with her, she talks about whatever she's reading." He chuckled slightly. "Even though we've only gone a few times, I always pick up a new word or two. She made me get a book, but I haven't gotten around to actually reading it..."

"Mhmmm... that's understandable for someone in your line of work."

The silence set in once again, and he felt he had to say something.

"Ms. Yamagishi... about me and Mayumi..."

She placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled at the stars. "I'm not worried about that. I can tell that your a good person, one that won't disrespect mine or any other daughter. But... there is one thing that I want to discuss, and it concerns my daughter." She squeezed his shoulder, keeping him from interrupting her. "Mayumi is not very fond of me. I love my daughter and I know that she loves me as well, but girls at this age can be difficult to understand. So if she contradicts herself or starts up with her insecurities and jealousy, please understand."

"I-I've noticed that she doesn't really like it when I mention Rei. I think she's jealous of how much time I spend with her."

"Well, like mother like daughter, I suppose. In any case, please don't let her do anything hasty. If she's anything like me when I was younger, she might become rude to anyone who she sees as a threat to her."

"Rei wouldn't hurt her, she's--"

"Not physically. I'm talking about her boyfriend, you, Mr. Ikari. She'll become hostile to anyone who she think might try to steal you away from her." She found his naivety both cute and irksome. "If that happens... just remind her that she's the only one that you want... is she? I know that men tend to have wandering eyes..."

He felt some confidence return to his stomach, that cold feeling melting away into nothing. "It's not that I don't find other girls cute, but she's really the only one that interests me."

The older woman smiled at him. To find one person to love all your life is a rare find; so rare that she has only seen one example of that in all her years. Shinji is the type of person, at least she thought, that could love one person throughout his life, or at least one above all others. Like her late first husband. She frowned at the thought. "I see. Then, could I ask you something?"

"S-Sure."

"The promise that you made to my daughter, what was it? Mayumi mentioned something like that to me, but she was never really clear about it."

"Oh, that... she asked me to protect Aiko."

She raised her eyebrow. "That daughter of mine... always asking for such strange things. And do you intent to keep your promise?"

"Of course, I do. But, I didn't need a promise for that. She's my friend too, so I'll pilot the Evangelion as long as I need to in order to protect them."

She frowned at the sky. 'Just like him, huh? I'll do anything to protect them, he always use to say...' "Shinji, please take care of my Aiko. I don't mean by piloting-- I know you'll do that --I mean emotionally. She's very frail, even though she puts up a cheerful front."

He was confused at that point. 'Isn't that what I was doing?' "W-What do you mean?"

"The way she talks about you, with those big green eyes of hers, she would be crushed if anything should ever happen to you, and you didn't recover. Don't over do it out there, okay?" There was a silence between the two. They were nearing her home, so it might be the only time to talk alone with him, so she acted. "Mr. Ikari... my daughter sees a lot of my late husband in you."

The blood in his veins seemed to pause in their track for a second. "Your late..."

"And I must admit, when my husband was a young man, as you yourself are, he was a lot like you. So eager to help others, but always ignoring his own needs," she stopped in front of her home and placed her finger gently on his chest, above his bandage, "... and only asking for an escape from loneliness in return."

"Ms. Yamagishi, I..."

"I see him in you as well... don't break my daughters' heart, okay? As selfish as it sounds, at least live her sake. She already lost her father once."

He didn't know what to say, it had hit him like an angel from space. Even after he said goodnight to Ms. Yamagishi and returned home, it keep bouncing around in his head. 'She already lost her father once, she already lost her father once.' "Aiko..."

A few weeks after that they had to undress inside a large sterile room, the wash cycle. Shinji didn't like having to be naked in front of the two girls, so he made sure to not look anywhere other than the floor beneath his feet. They went into several tests in simulation plugs and simulation bodies thereafter.

He later heard from Ms. Ibuki, after they had been retrieved from their entry plugs, that there was an angel attack directly inside of NERV, but the crew and Ritsuko had managed to construct an evolution leading death by hacking into it. As great as that was, Maya seemed to be happier to have the MAGI's access codes in INT-C, whatever that was. Shinji wasn't sure what that meant, but he was glad that the good doctor had managed to kill the angel before it got out of control.

With the fortunate he had, he found himself inside of a berserk Unit-00 while trying out some new synch tests. Everything was going smoothly until they initiated the second stage. Something had entered his mind when he was inside of there. He felt her, felt Rei, and then nothing. All of that just to end up back inside that white hospital room and the familiar ceiling above his head.

He was awake now, lying in that hospital bed alone, once again reviewing his short life. He felt a fingernail flick his forehead as soon as he turned his head. "Ow! Who the hell tries to hurt someone after they just woke up from the hospital?"

"That's all you have to say? No thank you for waiting until you regain your consciousness? Boys can be so inconsiderate." Asuka sat next to the boy and huffed. "I could be home right now... anyway, I ran into your little blue-haired girlfriend while I was getting over here, and she said that she would like to speak with you after you got up. Then she got called off by the Commander to do some sort of operation."

"Oh..." The word girlfriend crossed his mind once again. "... R-Rei's not my girlfriend, she's just my friend," he said with tinge of red on his cheeks.

"Is that so? Well, have you two kissed at least?"

He laid back down on the bed, hitting his head on the wall and making Asuka laugh at his clumsiness, and stared at the ceiling with a deadpanned expression. "No, Asuka, we haven't kissed. That's something that couples do."

She blinked and then smiled. "Of course, what am I saying? How could you have gotten to first base before I have?"

"Asuka... can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what do want?" She asked bluntly.

"What did you think of the black-haired girl that ate with us a few days ago?" He had wanted to ask about her for some time, wanting to know her opinion on her for no other reason than to simply know.

"Hmm? You mean the midget or the one that kept looking at you and the First? I don't know. I didn't talk to her." She folded her arms in front of her chest. "I guess she's pretty. Not more than me, but then who is? Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just curious, that's all." He had noticed that Mayumi was looking at Rei, so it seemed her mother was right about her, but how would he go about telling her that he was only interested in her? "Say, Asuka... what would you say if I said that she was my girlfriend?"

"She's your girlfriend! But I though that you and the First really were... well, not that it matters..." She paused and decided to probe him for some answers. "So why'd she pick you? She's got to have some defect to pick you as a boyfriend. Does she have a scar somewhere or a sixth toe?"

He sighed. "No, she doesn't have sixth toe and...," he would have said she didn't have a scar, but if he mentioned that it would seem like he would dislike her if she were to have one. After seeing Misato's scar, he couldn't bring himself to say such things. "... it wouldn't matter if she did have some weird scar. And anyway, I don't know why she would want me, but she does."

Asuka gave him a look over and then leaned in her chair. "I'll have to talk to her about that; she sits in the back of our classroom, right? I'll figure this out."

"... your telling me I'm not good enough?"

"Yup," she said bluntly.

He would have argued with her, but there was a piercing sound resonating within the entire underground. It was the shrill scream that always made his heart skip a beat and turn his stomach into ice. The sirens were singing loudly, singing the hymn of distress and misfortune.

Asuka looked at the pilot, trying to confirm if she heard the same thing. Before she could tell him to get his narrow ass out of bed, Shinji turned to his bedside and picked up his cell phone. She looked at him, confused as why he would waste his time calling someone when they had to prepare for battle. "Shinji, what the hell are you doing? We have to--"

He ignored as soon as the ringing stopped. "Ms. Yamagishi! Get your daughters to-- no, not the shelters! Get them to NERV HQ immediately! Mayumi can get you inside the geofront's main--" He felt his heart sink as her mother frantically explain the situation to him. "What do you mean? Is it the same thing!"

"Shinji, we have to go--"

"Get her to the hospital inside of NERV, she should have an ID card on her-- don't panic, don't panic..." He got off the bed and grabbed Asuka's hand before running away from the room. "Just get her over here! Ask for Dr. Akagi to take care of her! She treated her last time!"

"What the hell is going on, Third Child! Who needs to go to the hospital?" Normally, she would have slapped him for ignoring her, but there was such a fear in his eyes that made even her heart dip into panic.

They ran through all of NERV until they reached the changing rooms. He let go of her hand in front of the women's changing room and ran off the male locker room to get suited, never letting go of the phone and talking to the person on the other line. He frantically changed into his, almost falling over a few times, but his heart never stopped racing.

"Are you there yet? Good, now show the man at the gate to-- I don't care if the place is under lock down, tell him... hand him the phone!" He waited impatiently as he pressed the button on his plugsuit to form fit him. "This is the pilot of Evangelion Unit-01, I'm well aware that we're under lock down, but... your not hearing me! I want all three of them to get inside now! They showed you Mayumi Yamagishi's ID and... I don't care! If they're not inside, you can have one less pilot against the angel!"

There was a pause on the side of the line. "I'm glad we've reached an agreement, now give the phone back. Ms. Yamagishi, I have to go now! Take care of Mayumi!" He clicked the phone off, threw it to the floor, and let his head hang low.

'She's hurting again... just like the last time... What the hell is going on! I can fight angels, but I can't help her when she really needs helps! Damn it! I'm so useless..." His heart raced with the anxiety of the situation. With anger now filling his mind, he clenched his fist and punched the locker in front of him until his fists were red underneath the plugsuit.

Wiping away the tears of anger in from his eyes, he ran towards the Eva cages and climbed on board before the preparations for battle were made. He sat in the entry plug and clutched the controls as if they were the only things real. Desperately he waited for orders. She was dying again. Right underneath his nose she was dying, and he couldn't be by her side again. It was unbearable.

Though it was only a few minutes, the other pilots boarded their Evangelions and awaited their orders. All around him, Misato's voice could be heard, but he paid no heed. He knew what he had to do, just like the last time.

"Shinji, I know that your fresh out of the hospital, but we have no choice. This angel is airborne, but has shown no movement other than just floating above us."

Shinji clutched the controls even harder. "I don't care! Just send me out!"

Misato stern face softened to a confused expression. 'It's so unlike him to just want to go out and fight...' "We'll attack when we get some Intel. Asuka, since your synchronization is higher, you'll take the point. As soon as you three hit ground level, retrieve the specified weaponry, but do not attack. Stay posted and await further orders. Launch!"

The catapults clicked and all three Evangelions were shot throughout the city. They reached the city levels with a sharp reduction in G force. Shinji could see it in the distance, a black and white orb can floating between the same three buildings that had been destroyed the last time Mayumi was under NERV medical care. He sneered at the orb and held his ire.

All three units swerved behind their escape route and grabbed the rifles from the armament's building. The female pilots, with the deep breath before the plunge of battle, awaited the orders to attack. Shinji ,on the other hand, waited impatiently with his fist clenching and unclenching as he held back the tugging urge to open fire on the floating orb.

'It's nothing but a ball in the sky! I'm here when I could be by Mayumi's side because of a tiger-striped ball in the sky? I don't have time for this...' The Evangelion cocked the rifle in it's hand.

"I want you all to back up each other, okay?"

Unit-02 crouched down beneath the escape route and moved forward stealthily, following the orb as it shadowed between the three buildings. Unit-00 clutched it's rifle and moved adjacent from the orb, keeping it's distance to the unknowing enemy.

The purple titan stood still.

"Shinji, get into position! Asuka and Rei are already a block away from their target post!"

Shinji clutched the controls and bite into his lip. 'I don't have time for this... I should be over there!' With a flick of the dual controls the Evangelion turned sharply from behind the escape route and aimed the rifle towards the floating orb. "Grrr!"

Three bullets from the rifle fired into the midnight of the angel. They tore through the angel's spherical body as if it were nothing more than paper, and tore through nothing. "Wah-what? The angel disappeared!"

"Status!"

"Pattern confirmed! It's an angel-- position has changed, it's right beneath Unit-01!"

Shinji looked down as the hard streets beneath him were turned into silky quicksand. The endless abyss took the Evangelion's ankle first, making Shinji feel as if he were standing on air. "What's going on! It's sucking me in!" With no other course of action, the Evangelion pointed it's rifle downward and opened fire, emptying the clip into the nothingness of the angel. "What the hell is this! This can't be happening!"

He looked upward as he felt the presence of the angel return. True to his gut, the black and white striped orb was above him, looming over it's pathetically easy prey. He looked up fearfully at the orb, his eyes shaking and his arms twitching in fear of his ending life. "Ahhh... I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die..."

"Shinji!" Rei screamed at ears too filled with the sounds of it's owner's heartbeat.

"You idiot! Get your scrawny ass out of there!"

The purple warrior was now up to it's waist in the murky nonentity. Fearfully, it waded against the sea of sable, struggling fruitlessly in the quicksand. "Misato, what's going on! Please, help me!" His voice was so utterly wrapped in fear that it almost broke the woman's heart to hear his pleas in her frozen state. "Misato! Misato!"

"G-Get him out of there! Eject the entry plug and sent it flying away from the angel!"

Maya turned to her superior. "No response, it's not working!"

"Misato! Dr. Akagi! Ms. Ibuki! Someone help me!" The neck was sinking in, showing no sign of slowing down. He collapsed on the throne and let his hair cover his eyes. If he was going to die, he should at least get say something. He clutched his knees and, choking on his fear, he said, "Misato... please tell Mayumi and Aiko I said goodbye... and tell Ms. Yamagishi that I said I'm sorry, I couldn't pro--"

Everything went black and the screams of the bridge turned to static.

"SHINJI! Asuka! Rei! Rescue Unit 01! Hurry!"

Unit's 00 and 02 rushed towards the site of the Eva's downfall. Asuka grit her teeth and clutched the controls. "What's the point of rushing into things if you just get caught!"

The blue Evangelion leaned against a building and braced it's leg against another building across the street. Rei hurried with setting up the large sniper rifle and got a lock on the white and black orb in the sky. "Shinji, wait for me." She emptied two shots into the sky, only to pass through the body and hit nothing but the building behind it.

"It just disappeared again!"

Ritsuko said quickly, "Asuka! Watch the streets!"

She looked down as the world was covered in a dim shadow. "The shadow!" The Evangelion leapt from the ground seconds before the floor turned into the same abyss Shinji was absorbed into. While the cars and buildings began sinking into the nothingness, Unit-02 withdrew it's progressive knife and climbed onto the largest building in the vicinity.

"Aahhh!" She screamed as the building she was on started to drop into the sable floor. Quickly the Evangelion climbed onto the rooftop and stood up. "The whole city is sinking!"

"Asuka! Rei! Pull back, now!"

"Bu..." She was interrupted by a usually soft voice.

"Wait! Shinji is still inside of the shadow. We cannot leave him there," she said with the same monotonous voice, with only slightly evident panic.

The tactician clutched her fist until her nails started stinging her palms. "This is an order." The words themselves hurt to say. "I said to withdraw now." She looked at the cold steel floor instead of the monitor, because she could not bear to see the umbilical cable sink in with the city and Shinji.

--

**You were swallowed?**

**Guess you could say that... get closer, it's getting cold.**

**S-S-Stop being so perverted! It's not that windy. Besides, the sun's gonna come out soon and-- ah!**

**There, now I can go on.**

--

"Major Katsuragi must feel awful."

"They reeled Shinji's umbilical cable in, but the other end was missing."

"Then, without power..."

"There's not much energy left in the internal batteries. If Shinji doesn't waste his time groping blindly in the dark, if he stays in the most minimal life-support mode, then he has sixteen hours left before the LCL de-purifies and life-support systems fail."

She had heard Shinji's last words, the ones which asked to give a message to the Yamagishi family, but she would not tell them. Even if she were to have lost faith in the young boy, the eldest daughter was under NERV medical care under critical condition. Last she heard, she was stabilized, but her heart beat was erratic, her heart rhythm the same as when Shinji had stopped the angel eye from falling on them. "Dr. Akagi... what of the condition of Shinji's-- I mean, the daughter of Taini?"

She paused and gathered her notes from the desk. "Her condition is in flux. There's no telling how it will turn out; for either child.

"But, what's wrong with her? I only met her once, but she seemed perfectly fine."

She started walking away from the command center. "Unfortunately, I have to attend to the angel's destruction and Unit-01's recovery. I'll have to leave it in the hands of the doctors."

--

In the mountainside in the east side of Tokyo-3, both Evangelions stood kneeling to the dusk's orange grip before the hour of no sun. All around the two remaining pilots stood the NERV workers, tacticians, and technicians watching the black sea which had taken Unit-01.

"The second tank battalion has been deployed."

"Roger, hold your current position and stand-by."

"Confirmed, condition green. New Line transmitting data."

Behind the First Child stood her superior with binoculars surveying the area. She paid little attention to the ramblings and leaned against the building next to her, letting the pressure off her legs.

'He has been swallowed by the shadow. It has already been twelve hours since then.' She reviewed the situation but found no solution. Any movement made on their part would result in their own demise. The shadow would take them as well, ruining any chance of victory and chance of rescuing the pilot. 'My friend... he will not die.'

She raised her scarlet eyes to the voice of the Second Child. "Well, taking matters into his own hands, dying operations and hastily attacking an angel without knowing it's methods of attack, I guess he got what he was asking for. Just because he wanted to see his little girlfriend, why'd he have to go and try to beat the angel on his own." She turned around with the smug look she had worn many times before. "Dumpkoff!"

Rei could feel that feeling returning to her chest, searing the surface of her heart and bringing a frown to her usually placid expression. She stepped away from the building and stood before the red haired pilot.

"What? Are my comments about Shinji pissing you off, First Child!"

"Do not speak ill of him. He was worried over the person he cares for, and as a result acted hastily. He was wrong in doing so, but he would have done the same if it was either of us in danger." Her words were calm, yet tinged with spite.

"What the hell are you talking about? If we lose to the angel then we're all dead!"

"Cut it out you two," interrupted the tactician, "Asuka's right, no matter how well-intentioned, he acted arbitrarily and acted without consulted anyone." She looked to the sky and folded her arms. "I guess, I'll just have to scold him when he gets back."

--

Shinji opened his eyes to the cold steel of the entry plug, much to his disliking. He had hoped he was in a horrible dream, hoping that he would awake in his bed with a cold sweat and heavy thumping in his chest. He sighed and rested against the Throne of the Soul. "I never though that sleeping could be so exhausting. I guess I'm not even good at that."

Shinji touched the controls and the world around him flashed between geometric shapes and lights only to end with a white nothing and quite machinery hums. "Still nothing but white noise. No radar data or sonar reflections." He raised his hand and looked at the watch in his plug suit. "It's already been twelve hours since I switched to life support mode" The boy slouched on the throne and closed his eyes. "My life will end in four or five hours, and all I can do is think about how much I'm going to miss them... I'm hungry..."

He opened his eyes once again to see the LCL returned to a more orange colored fluid, transparent and bubbled. He moved his arms in the LCL and felt the weight of the fluid. "T-The purification system is breaking down." The feeling of claustrophobia sunk into his mind, and he gagged on his fears. "It smells like blood in here!"

He reached above him and clutched the escape hatch and punched the door in it's lack of response. "I hate this place! Misato! Asuka! Rei! Ritsuko! Father..." Finally accepting the futility, he fell onto the throne and returned to despair. "I'm going to die, I'm gonna die..."

He awoke to the sound of a monorail and the blearing red lights of the outside world, alone and confused to the presence he felt in the back of his mind, yet he stood still and watched the moving lights. Only moments later did the surreal setting change, letting the lights fade and the orange sun outside the train and a child in front of him.

"Who's that?"

"Who? Shinji Ikari," the voice was familiar and steady.

"T-That's me..."

"I am you. This self incorporates another self. The self has always been composed of two separate selves."

The words were all to sure to ignore questioning. "Two?"

"Yes, the self which is observed and the self which observes itself. To expound, the Shinji Ikari that exists in your mind, the Shinji Ikari that exists in Misato Katsuragi's mind, the Shinji Ikari in Asuka Soryu's mind, the Shinji Ikari that exists in Rei Ayanami's mind, and the Shinji Ikari that exists in Mayumi Yamagishi's mind. All are different Shinji Ikari's, but each of them is a true Shinji Ikari's. What you fear is the Shinji Ikari's who exist in the minds of others."

"I'm just afraid of being hated."

The voice became slightly ridiculing, but gentle and omnipotent. "You are afraid of being hurt."

"But, what I am doing here? Am I dead?"

"You are not dead, yet. Even now you are inside of the entry plug, dreaming of yourself and selves inside the minds of others."

"I'm dreaming? I don't have time for that, I need to see Mayumi!"

"Her fate is in your hands, but you will never truly love her without knowing yourself."

"L-Love her? I... don't think I deserve to."

"We who have been abandoned by our father and who can hardly remember our mother are doomed to live a life of hardship, but to say we are not worthy of it is to give up on life itself."

"I don't have much to live for. I'm worthless."

The voice was feminine and was seen in the sun behind the boy who was replaced by a young girl with lavender hair. "No, you just believe that you are worthless.

The sun turned shifted and the moon appeared before him. He looked down when the glare hurt his eyes, then looked up to see a young girl with pale blue hair. "Don't you trust your father?"

"I thought I hated my father, but Ritsuko told me he had approved Mayumi's medical care..."

_"Consider it payment for a job well done, Shinji."_

"And Asuka, she even complemented me..."

_"And you did pretty well-- for a klutz."_

The young boy returned with the setting sun. "Will you spend the rest of your life regurgitating and re-digesting those few pleasant memories?"

"All long as I have her, I'll keep doing what I have to do, enough of a reason to stay alive."

"Even though you consider and reduce yourself as nothing more than a shield for her? Will you live the rest of your life that way? Even though she would not want that life for you?"

"What's wrong with that? This world is too full of pain and suffering to go on, but with her, I have a reason."

"Pain and suffering? You have yet to truly feel the despair of the world."

--

The life support system green light blinked on it's last segmented rung. It would only be a matter of time before he would suffocate in the unpurified LCL or lost consciousness due to hypothermia and die.

"The entry plug energy reserves should be reaching their expiration point about now."

"The plug suit's life support system will be getting closer to red line..."

Ritsuko stared at the blinking rung. "Let's advance the schedule by twelve minutes... let's do this while there's still the possibility that he's still alive..."

--

He saw that again, the back of the man who had abandoned him, leaving him behind once again with him as a child, crying pathetically. "Father, don't you want me? Father!"

The boy turned to him, facing him through the grainy film that had covered his eyes inside the cold entry plug. "It was yourself that you were running away from."

The voice of scientists and unimportant men rang in his ears as the film continued to reel inside of his mind. _"That's right! He may be guilty of killing his own wife!"_

_"His own wife!"_

"No! Mother was..." The film become even more unclear, becoming more out of focus the more he tried to open his eyes. But he could see her still, even beyond the film noir. "... she was smiling..."

Misato stood outside of his room, where his strained mind now wandered. "_Shinji, I'm very proud of you."_

"My life... what was it for? What is life?"

Like an oasis to the thirsty or the sun to the crops, she stood in front of him in plain sight, her eyes a blazing russet which even in his fading state brought a tight smile to his chapped lips. "What is life? Life is a dream."

"A dream? B-But what happens when we wake up?"

From behind her, the munchkin sister of Mayumi popped out, smiling stupidly as he so fondly remembered. "Stupid. No one knows the answer to that! But, now it's time to go back, you've been awake for far too long."

The film grain disappeared and the world became steel and a cloudy sea. He coughed, letting out a small cloud of red that did not dissipate in the orange bubbles. He sighed into the LCL and closed his eyes. "Can I rest now, Mayumi...? I'm so tired..."

Shinji closed his eyes expecting death stare at him gently and guide him towards infinity, if such a place could exist. Then he felt it, the touch of a warm hand on his cheek. He opened his eyes and found the translucent warm that had waken his heart and opened his eyes. It was familiar, so painfully familiar. The ghostly woman ethereal woman embraced him.

He opened his eyes wide in the surprise of feeling the touch of a ghost and the realization of who it was. "Mother?" The world flashed and he found himself a child once again, holding a red orb in his palms, glowing a scarlet he had once seen before.

The indistinctive body stood against the flashing world and spoke like his mother. "Is this enough?" The child smiled at her and held the orb higher. "Well, that's good for you."

--

The orb that had taken their comrade stood floating above the drowning city menacingly in it's own silent way. Around it, the two remaining Evangelions stood meters away from the dark shadow of it's body and awaited for the moment to spread their A.T. Field and leave an opening to tear the ultra-thin world it was.

"All Evas are now in position and standing by."

"A.T. Fields are ready to generate."

"Roger. T-minus 60 seconds to mine drop."

Above the city, a fleet of UN ships soared the skies and held their deadly cargo at bay. It would not be needed. Like an erupting volcano letting lose the blood of the Earth, the angel's body shook and violently erupted upward, cracking violently like the stone in a desert. Violently the crimson cracks spread and tore until the black sea was stained with angel's blood.

The city shook in response to the sadistic death to come, and the Evangelions faltered, stumbling backward and holding onto the buildings for support. Asuka looked on in fear as the ocean of sable was torn by an unseen shark in the scarlet depths. With her stomach cold and her eyes wide, she asked, "What the hell is that!"

The sable angel shook angrily like storm waves in response to the demon inside of it. Misato looked at the scene with fear in her heart. "What's going on!"

"We don't know!"

"All of our meters and gauges are going off the scale!"

Misato turned to the angel being split from the inside and stood wide-mouth. "Do you think it could be Shinji?"

"That's impossible," yelled the doctor, "Unit-01's power level must be at zero!"

The black and white orb in the sky colors' twisted and contorted until it quite it's struggle and stayed an ebony sphere in the sky. The demon's claw punctured through the ebony angel flesh and grabbed at the sky outside of it's feeble imprisonment. Brutally it struck it's other arm through, splitting the orb and pushing the flesh aside, sending the blood of the angel to spray over the now dead sea of dirac. With a ferocious roar the Eva shot it's head out from within the body and continued to split the sphere, sending fractures throughout the angel.

With a roar to be heard outside of the city limits and to the pacific ocean itself, the purple titan threw it's head back towards the rising sun and let the blood bath it stood in cover it in the macabre spoils of it's victory.

Asuka stared at the Evangelion with unbridled terror. "Mein Gott... Shinji's inside of that... is that what I'm pilot too?"

Rei looked on with an all-knowing frown, unable to know exactly what to express. She was glad that her friend was alive, but inwardly afraid at the Evangelion's momentary awakening.

"God in heaven... what kind of monster have we made this from...?"

Misato stared at the doctor and back towards the dying angel. "I know that the Evas are more than just copies of the first angel. But what is NERV going to do with them? What is NERV going to do with all the Evas once the angels have been destroyed?'

Bloody and dramatically, the Evangelion stretched outward in the sky and cracked the sphere of flesh into globs of innards and gory viscera. The carnage rained down and covered the angel's body with it's shadow. The howls from the Evangelion continued until it landed onto the sable flesh, erupting the angel's cracked body into the sky to accompany the air around it as it stood in the dark sea.

The Evangelion's victory was short-lived.

--

"Doctor, something's wrong! The girl's pulse is rising again! It's above 90 BPM, that's dangerous in her condition!"

"We're going to have to go in, prepare the anesthesia and get the girl's blood type from the blood bank!"

The slim girl on the table began to cring in pain even with the applied anesthetics, when suddenly she ceased movement and gave way to complete unconsciousness and all machines stopped their erratic beeping. The bleeping green lights around her signaled her BPM now bordered 70.

The nurse turned to the man in a white lab coat. "Doctor... she's back to normal. All monitors show no signs of abnormalities."

"Just what the hell happened here?"

--

Outside of NERV central, on the streets of Tokyo-3, the two unscathed Evangelions surrounded the aubergine tinged titan, when Maya noticed something wrong with the sensors. "Major Katsuragi! I'm getting a weird reading from the MAGI, it's picking up something strange at the triadic buildings near the center of Tokyo-3"!

Turning away from the victorious Unit-01, she looked at Ibuki and said, "What do mean? Is it another angel!"

"The MAGI are in agreement, but the pattern is different of all the other angels... they match only the one that had taken control of Unit-00!"

"The one who took control of Unit-00?" The memory of the puppeteer spine-covered angel came to mind. "It can't be! Asuka! Rei! Look towards the city's center! There's another angel-- gear up and keep it away from Unit-01, it's too unstable for battle!"

Asuka stared at the tacticians' image and clutched the controls. "Another one! But Shinji, just--"

"Major Katsuragi," Rei's usually sheathed voice was now a sharp blade, "If what is the recommended weaponry?"

"I can't be too sure," she turned to the bespectacled man inside the commander center, "Hyuuga! I need visual confirmation of the angel, hurry!"

On the main screen, a great sphere was floating calmly between the three same buildings that all three pilot held growing content for. It was no where near as large as the dead angel beneath their feet, but it glowed brightly and did not even budge as the two unharmed Evangelions neared it.

"It's a relatively small angel, but we can't underestimate it. It's airborne-- Rei, retain your long range sniper rifle, Asuka, I'll requested that the positron rifle be retrieved by air drop, so hold onto your rifle and stay posted until it arrives; it'll be here in less than 10!" Misato bit her lip and stared at the second spherical angel to appear at NERV.

Shinji opened his eyes inside the entry plug to see the black sea underneath his feet, but it felt different. It felt like he was back inside for the first time, that same pure and unadultared feeling of great height, and power in his arms. He blinked and felt the semi-thick fluid cover his eyes even in the LCL, he could feel the blood on his Eva, on himself.

He turned to his left when he saw those red eyes of Rei looking uneasily at him, her face the same placid expression with telltale flickers in her irises, but he could not never predict what she would say. "Shinji, are you unharmed?"

Shinji stared at the darkness at his feet and frowned. "I don't know." He looked at the throne he sat on. "Rei, where are you and Asuka?"

"We are preparing to assault another angel that has appeared inside Tokyo-3."

He sat in his throne clumsily. "Another angel? H-Hold on, I'll be right there!" He clutched the controls and willed the Eva to move, yet received no movement. "Wh-What the hell is going on? Why can't I move?"

Misato and Ritsuko appeared before him just as the blinding eyes of the titan faded into nothing. "I'm sorry, Shinji, but under the circumstance in which Unit-01 came back, we can't have it operational."

"B-But Ritsuko...! With only Rei and Asuka--"

"Oh, shut up, Third Child! You think your the only one that can pilot an Eva?" Asuka, now back to her normal self, grit her teeth and punched the image of Shinji in her entry-plug. "Don't let your ego get the better of you! I'll show you who's really number one." She closed her communications and grinned. 'Time for me to show him he's not the only one that can tear apart an angel.'

He rubbed his right shoulder and sighed. 'I guess... I'll have to trust them for the rest... I'm so tired, anyway.' He let himself collapse on the throne only to shot right back up as his memory began to work once more. "Mayumi! Where's Mayumi!"

Misato looked at Ritsuko, who then turned her attention towards her walkie-talkie. "What is the status of patient Yamagishi?"

The lavender haired woman turned to her charge and straightened her expression. "Shinji, there's more important matters to attend to right now. We'll have the recovery team transport you back to central, just stay put and--"

"No! Rei and Asuka are still fighting, I have to help them!-- I'm moving out!"

"What! Shinji, don't disobey my orders! Stay exactly where you are, now!"

The Evangelion's eyes glowed dimly as Shinji overrode the halt command on the internal batteries. Like it's worn-out pilot would have, so did the purple beast move slowly from exhaustion. Dragging it's metallic boots, it moved towards the nearest umbilical station and retrieved it's external power source. 'There, now I'm not running on nothing.'

The purple beast's eyes brightened, and it ran slowly towards it's brethren.

Misato grit her teeth as the blood-soaked Evangelion left it's red footprints on top of the dead angel. He was on the edge once again, and it could only turn out bad for the poor child. With Commander Ikari gone she wasn't forced to raise the LCL pressure to it's maximum and force him out of the entry plug, though she reserved the option, but if he risked himself anymore, she would be forced to take drastic measures.

"Shinji!"

He turned on the vid screen and looked at his guardian. "I'm going, Misato. They need me, and--"

"I know that, but if you screw up it's going to be on my ass." She folded her arms and lowered her voice. "And if I get chewed out, I'll take things away from you that will make you useless to a woman, got me?"

He grin tiredly at his guardian and clutched the controls harder at her encouragement. "Got it."

"The angel has begun moving!"

The glowing sphere rotated faster and faster, picking up speed as it's flame orange and red body blurred in the naked eye. Even the air around the swirling angel began to glow intensely, distorting the air into a hazy orb around the angel.

"Asuka, open fire on the angel!"

"Got it!" The red Evangelion lifted the rifle and fell on one before letting lose a barrage of bullets at the angel. She grin as the bullets flew across the city with marksman's' accuracy. "Bye-bye."

As the bullets flew closer and closer the kinetic energy left the bullets, stealing away the yellow color of heat from the speed, and melted into metal puddles once they penetrated the hazy shield of the spinning angel.

"Mein gott! My shots melted before they could even touch the damn thing." Her eyes twitched as she caught the sight of something shining in the light of day, like a thread's sunlight reflection. "What the...? What is that?" Before she could react, the shining thread zipped through the city and sliced through the building behind her. Not wanting to experience the deadly twine, the scarlet titan rolled away from it's position and hid behind another building, only to see a thin line, no thicker than telephone pole, scarred onto the street she was on.

"Asuka, get away from there!" Misato watched as the red titan struggled to get back on it's feet and move away from the nearly invisible wire that cut the street so cleanly. She turned to Rei's video feed and saw the same flicker of light heading towards the ultramarine Eva. "Rei, evasive actions!"

The Evangelion retracted the long range sniper rifle's stand and moved as the transparent wire cut the street in half, leaving no debris. "Major Katsuragi, what is that?"

"No idea, just keep moving you two, it seems to be slower than us."

The two Evangelions kept running through the streets, dodging with ease the transparent wires that slashed the floor beneath them. Above them three large transport helicopters with an impossibly large cargo flew past the city and hovered over mountains on the city's outskirts, then left once it left it's enormous cargo, the redesigned positron rifle, had been set down. The three transport helicopters, now without the burden of the rifle, flew away at twice their speed towards the horizon, out of sight of the angel.

"Asuka! Since you have higher synchronization, I'm sending you to use the positron rifle." At her command, the scarlet titan changed course and sped towards the mountains, leaving behind the sluggish by comparison wire which nearly slice it in two. "Once you get there, you'll have to set it up-- don't worry, Maya will instruct you on how to properly place it."

Her heart was racing with excitement, 'This is how battle is suppose to be! This is how my Eva's suppose to shine!' she proclaimed in her soul. Without wasting time, the Evangelion leaned on it's haunches and leaped over the small knolls and, with the Eva's head forward and chest high and out, landed next to the rifle, splintering the forest and earth beneath it.

"Okay! Maya, help her set up the rifle." While the technician gave instructions to the redhead, Misato turned towards the doctor. "Ritsuko, Shinji won't be at his best without that girl's safety guaranteed. I know it's stupid of me, but--"

The doctor picked up her notepad and clipboard before walking away. "I'll make sure she's fine. Just take care of that angel." She left without another word.

Misato turned towards the still running Evangelion. "Rei, Shinji's on his way to back you up. Make sure you keep moving. Don't get too close to the angel!"

"Roger." The ultramarine Eva ran away from the spinning orb and leapt whenever the thread would cross over a building to compensate for it's lack of speed. Tearing through the streets of Tokyo-3, Rei no longer found concrete to lead her course, instead she stepped back onto the corpse of the shadow angel. Luckily, in the distance, she could see another Evangelion closing in, and though she could not make it out, she knew it was Shinji.

Though, in her heart of hearts, she was happy to know he was fine, she would even dare to say she was elated by his safety, the blood-stained Evangelion made her nervous. And, though she would never show it, it frightened her to know that Shinji rode within it; and even worse so, that he was capable of such brutality if her life was in danger. Such flattery felt strange, but warm.

The hulking, bloodied figure limped towards it's brethren across the dead sea, rifle in arm, ready to tear another enemy apart. "R-Rei, are you alright? Did I make it in time?"

"I am unharmed, it is you that I am concerned for. Shinji... return to NERV central, you are in no condition to assist. You have not eaten in over 20 hours."

The purple titan continued to move forward until it had moved past it's single-eyed sister. "Let's go, Rei. What kind of friend would I be if I let you go alone, huh?"

No wanting to waste anymore time, the blue Eva fell in line with the purple one, trusting that he would be fine, but never letting her crimson gaze wander too far from his vid screen. "On three, okay? Let's distract the angel until Asuka sets up the positron rifle and builds up enough energy. One..."

"Two..."

"...Three!"

Both Evangelions split directions and led the two threads away from the Evangelion on the mountain side. Rei had no problem running from the angel, dodging as the wire blinked in the sunlight and jumping when it split through a building's center, but Shinji was another story. His Evangelion ran swiftly, but it's pilot clutched onto the controls violently, trying to keep his throat from tasting his stomach juices. "Ah... Ah... Ma-... Mayumi! Please, be alright..."

The spinning orb rotated even faster, spreading the hazy space that made up it's outer shield. The most noticeable change was the aerial eye that seemed to calmly follow the path of the Third Child as he struggle to not collapse on his throne. The orange iris glowed brightly as the it's gaze pierced the titan's armor and saw the child inside cough blood inside the LCL.

"Hah... Hah... I can't stop, Asuka needs time to-to- to set up the rifle..."

The ultramarine Evangelion stopped in it's tracks when Rei noticed that the wires ceased attacking her. Keeping it's guard, the Evangelion looked cautiously around, looking for the telltale signs of the angel's attack, scanning for clean slashes and sliced buildings. And yet she saw nothing; and she was worried.

Across the city, Unit-01 was barely dodging the lazily striking wire. Still, Shinji would not let go of the reigns, nor would he let his steed falter in the face of the enemy, since his life was meaningless without those people. He was their shield, he had to do it. He pulled the reigns and turned his blood-splattered steed towards the glowing angel, and let lose his last remaining strength.

"AHHH!" He let lose the air in his burning lungs and his Eva leapt over the dancing wire that cut the buildings behind it, and opened fire at close range, emptying his clip beneath the angel, not caring whether the deadly thread would tear him to pieces so long as he could destroy the annoying sphere of fire and air.

The bullets went through the highly pressurized and heated air that shielded the angel, but melted at the touch of the angel's body. He grit his teeth as he realized the futility of his efforts but still held the rifle upward.

"Shinji!" Her voice now no longer expressionless but full of the concern for the boy that had befriended her and fear of his imminent death. "Get away from there!"

The two wires that had been lazily hounding the Evangelions now wrapped themselves around the blood-stained Unit-01 and glinted the light of the sun as they began to grow in size; expanding outwardly and becoming thicker, but never giving up the paper thin shape. The lanky arms of the angel were now thin and long, strangling and sucking the life out of the blood smeared humanoid.

"I... I've lost..." He grabbed the controls, but they would not respond. Slowly, the LCL inside the entry plug empty and went somewhere other than around him. "It's taking all the LCL... it's drinking it? What is..."

"Shinji!" screamed his guardian, "Shinji! Get out of there! Move!"

The long-haired man turned around in his chair. "He can't, Major! The angel's got a hold of him, and one of the arms is covering the back of the neck!"

"Major, the LCL is being absorbed, he's lost all shock absorbance and synchronization has dropped to 57.431!"

She had no moves available, all she could do is wait and hurry for Asuka to set up the complex positron rifle and gather enough energy to shoot the angel into nothing, and hope that Rei could do something to save her Shinji. "Rei! Move out and get Shinji out of there, I don't care how, just do it!"

Taking her cue, the blue Evangelion went to the nearest weapon's building and retrieved the progressive spear. Unit-00 swung the spear around and took hold it once more before pressing the end of the staff and letting the edge glow the same bright pink as the progressive knives. "Wait for me, Shinji. I'll save you this time."

Asuka placed the last of a series of dozen wires into the mountainside power station and set up the positron rifle's stand and aimed it towards the core of the gluttonous angel. "C'mon, Misato! Light this damn gun up, so I can save Shinji's bony ass!"

"Power transfer beginning. Sending all increasing voltage to positron rifle 01."

She looked at the trapped Evangelion and nervously waited for the time to strike. "Hurry... hurry...! If he dies, I'll never hear the end of it..."

Shinji stared upward, causing the Evangelion's head to stare up at the mini sun, and sighed at the growing mass of light. "Such a greedy thing... it's just sucking my Eva's life..." He leaned on the throne and gazed at the light with half-closed eyes as the aerial eye stared back at him, it's all-seeing iris glowing brightly as it's size grew. "What's the word that Mayumi would use...? Yeah... gluttonous. That sounds right... I wish she could have taught me a few other words... my dear bookworm Mayumi..."

She would not allow him to die so pathetically, to be drained slowly of his life, so she willed the Evangelion to run faster, to run so fast that her knees would go numb simply from the thought. She near the stained titan and stretched the spear the spear outward. Without thought, she twirled the blade to build it's momentum and slashed the source of the paper-thin arms.

The arms were sliced and Unit-01 kneeled underneath the angel, it's pilot too weak to do otherwise. In her rashness, she willed the Evangelion to take hold of Unit-01 and attempt to drag it away from the gluttonous angel. Only seconds later did the paper shaped arms come, much longer and more intimidating in their metallic texture. One arm wrapped itself around Unit-01's leg and the others wrapped around the head of the ultramarine Eva, pushing it the ground and absorbing the LCL from it.

"LCL being absorbed by the angel in Unit-00!"

"Major, it'll be two more minutes before the positron rifle can be used."

She bit her lip and tapped the floor with her boot nervously. "Let's hope they can hold out until Asuka's ready."

Rei looked around her as the entry plug became cold and hallow. She placed her gloved hand on the cold steel of her throne and looked at the metallic arm that was wrapped around her Eva's head. "You will not win."

Inside the command center, the door slid open to reveal a short girl with tear streaked cheeks. She ran forward, past the surprised tactician and in front of the screen which showed all three Eva pilots in their own peril. She looked at Shinji's weary eyes and her own began to water. "Shinji! Wake up, Shinji!"

Though his eyes were open, he could only turn his head towards the short girl. "A-Aiko... why are you here...? Your not allowed here..."

"Shinji! It's Mayumi! She's alright-- so don't give up! Wake up! I though you were my invincible Shinji!" She sat on her knees and looked at the screen as the purple Evangelion was dragged around the city in circles, peeling the street of it's concrete and buildings of their midsections and scraping some of the armor off the Eva's back, then tossed into the air as if were nothing more than a rag doll. "SHINJI!"

He could feel it, the air that rushed past his hair and the force of gravity working it's best to bring him back down to the Earth. Without the LCL, he might die on impact, not even feeling the pain of the angel tearing him apart, burning him, blowing him up, or absorbing him in shadow. He could feel the air coming to halt and gravity once again taking hold. It would end soon, so soon.

Shinji could have died then, could have allowed himself the rest, but he could see Asuka yelling at him to do something, Rei screaming his name, Misato ordering him to not die with tears behind her eyelashes, Ms. Ibuki too scared to say anything, the two other bridge techs looking at him in fear, and Aiko crying over him before he was dead. He couldn't take it.

He clutched the controls before gravity had gripped him completely. The Evangelion twisted in the air, it's eyes now filled with the blinding lightning that brought fear in the hearts of many and faced the Earth. The beast growled deeply after it once again ripped the frontal jaw restraint and withdrew it's progressive knife from it's shoulder.

"Rei, throw your spear up! Hurry!" He threw the progressive knife downward with deadly accuracy, cutting deeply into the metallic shaped arm that held the ultramarine's Eva head down. It unwrapped and danced in the air in pain, twisting as the progressive knife vibrated and cut it further.

Unit-00 got up and tossed the spear upward with all it's strength, sending the spear straight up into the sky. Rei looked on as the purple titan grabbed the lance and pointed it downward, placing it's feet at the point and braced itself for impact against the angel. She only hoped that the spear would hold against the heat until the core was pierced.

Before he could even attempt to attack the eye that looked at him, it's remaining arm shot upward and blocked the path to the eye. The spear pierced the arm, tearing through the metal flesh like wood, but slowing it down enough. Shinji held onto the controls as the negative G force pushed him upward on his throne, regaining his balance as the shockwave stopped. "Damn it!"

The spear melted as it pass through the arm and touched through the outer shell of compressed air and heat. The purple Evangelion jumped off the spear and landed on the arm of the angel, bending it as the beast landed harshly on it. "Rei, hold down the other arm!"

The blue titan rose from it's stupor grabbed hold of the progressive knife from the flailing arm and stabbed it back down on the streets below the angel. "It's contained!"

His voice was now ragged and harsh, yet he went on. "Asuka! Take the shot!"

She licked her lips and watched as the geometric shapes locked on. "Angel death in 10 and counting!"

The arm began twitching as the Evangelion pushed the spear further in, trying to keep the arm down and hold grounding in the air. "9...!"

Unit-00 placed it's foot down on the cringing arm and stomped the progressive knife into the street to the hilt. "8..."

Asuka's eyes were covered by the top section of her throne, allowing the image to become clearer and coordinated into the dead center of the sphere. "7..."

Misato bit her lip once again and squeezed Aiko's shoulder. "6..."

The spear's blade was completely melted and it's shaft began to boil in Unit-01's hands. "5...

The arm beneath Unit-00's feet slid away, slicing itself in half, and throwing the blue unit off balance. "4..."

"Rei! Hold onto it!" Shinji pulled the spear out as it melted completely. "3..."

The arm beneath Unit-01 shot out and moved in front of the growing angel. Unit-01 falls, but grabs the arm and slams it's fist through the building next to it, holding it from blocking the positron beam. "2..."

The other arm grabs Unit-00 by it's head and placed it in front of itself. "1..."

Asuka grits her teeth and holds back on firing. "..."

Unit-01 let's go of the building and swings from the Angel's arm, knocking Unit-00 to ground and freeing it from the angel's grasp. "Take the shot, Asuka!"

Not wasting time, Asuka ignores the sweat that rolls down her right eye and pulls the trigger, sending the powerful wave of energy across the city towards the rotating angel between the triangular buildings. "Die!"

The angel's eye stared at the purple beast that landed next to it's blue brethren and used it's arm to grab it by it's waist and pulled it upward, covering it's body and providing a shield from the blast.

Aiko looked up at the image with her heart already breaking at the result in her mind's eye. "SHINJI!"

Shinji looked at the incoming bright light and opened his eyes wide, his eyes letting lose a single tear. "I'm so sorry, Aiko... " The world slowed down as the light become too bright to look at, and bowed his head. "Mayumi... I think that... I could have loved you..."

Asuka yelled at him to get out of the way, but his screen turned to static as the beam she shot out hit his Evangelion's abdomen, hitting it in the thinnest part of the machine, and tearing it apart. She couldn't scream when she saw the Eva torn in two, split below the breast by her trigger finger. She could only stared wide-eyed. She coughed out from the desert in her mouth, "N-No... I didn't mean to.. Shinji...!"

Rei looked at the upper half of the Evangelion as it's melted armor fell to the streets and melt the tarmac itself. "No, Shinji!"

The three bridge technicians stared at the beam as it collided against the angel and covered the city's sky in orange glow. The heat melted two of the three buildings instantly and let the bottom floors melted like candle wax. Aoba lowered his head and let his bangs cover his eyes. "Shit... shit..."

Misato stared in shock as she watched her Shinji fall to the ground inside of the Eva's upper half. The glowing explosion of antimatter and angel flame, it's extraordinary bang and destructive force of collision, seemed nothing more than an exaggerated blowtorch against an orange in her eyes, paling in comparison to her defeated charge.

The positron beam surrounded the orb, ceasing it's rotation and bringing an end to the shied of heat and air, and covered the eye in seconds, bringing an end to the all-seeing eye and it's gluttonous appetite.

--

**Why do you look so sad? I'm right in front of you.**

**Well, yeah, but... I just feel so bad about you going through all of that. It just doesn't seem fair, any of it! We've lost so many friends, so many allies. You could have just stayed in Tokyo-3 and left me, it would have made things alot less--**

**Don't say stupid things like that-- your smarter than that. I could never just leave you. I'd be a whole different person, a worse person, if it wasn't for you. Even your constant book reading habits rubbed off on me. I don't think that... I would like myself if it wasn't for you. **

**Shinji...**

--

The sun was coming up and dawn's rosy fingers reached the blood-stained armor of Unit-01's upper half. With his own chest burning, Shinji stared at the green light that appeared before him when the blood had ceased flowing. Somehow, he felt the light reading him, exposing only to him the secrets of himself. But he heard something that made his fingers twitch.

"Shinji! Shinji! Shinji!" The entry plug door opened and let the light of day flood it. Shinji stared at the silhouette of the woman he knew well and closed his eyes more, adjusting to the day so he could see her clearly. "Shinji! Are you alright!"

Not getting a response other than his focusing eyes, she allowed her emotions get the best of her and let the tears run freely from her mother eyes. She gasp for breath and held onto his cold frame, not knowing what to say and crying further instead.

Shinji looked at the older woman and frowned. She had seen her, blurry and unclear, but he had seen her, his mother. And now he had another woman crying over him as his mother would have in the same situation. He frowned and placed his hand on her back, patting her to reassure her that he was fine. "Misato... don't cry. Your getting your clothes dirty..."

He looked over at the redhead who had her hand on her hip standing outside the entry plug and used his other hand to wave weakly at her. "No words of praise, Asuka? I guess I didn't do a good job..."

"You stupid klutz! You don't deserve my praise!" She looked over to the crying woman and wiped at her eyes before her own tears came. "Weren't you going to punish the boy?"

"Don't worry," he said tired and cheerfully, "she will later." Shinji raised his eyes and adjusted to the light to see Rei standing next to the redhead with a confused look on her face. He understood immediately and got up slowly once Misato regained her composure and limped towards Rei. "Mind giving me a hand, Rei?"

Rei looked at the almost supernatural smile on his face, a smile that shouldn't be after surviving what he had endured. She placed her arm around his back and he did the same, letting himself place his weight on her back. He looked to his right when he felt someone take his other shoulder. "Huh..?"

"Asuka...?"

"After I do this, we're even..." She wouldn't look at his face in fear that he would see through her act. "That understood, Third Child?"

He smiled with his dark eyes half opened. "My stomach hurts... buy me lunch and then we'll call it even..."

"Shinji..."

"Yeah, Rei?"

"This warm sensation..."

"Yeah," he said softly, "I'm glad too see your alive too..." Before he could go on, his legs gave out and the world became dark once again. Both pilots tried to support him, but knelt down and let Misato take over, placing him in her arms.

"He needs to be treated for so many things... but I already know what he's going to ask about when he wakes up. Once you two make sure your fine, go and check with Ritsuko and ask about Mayumi and her sister."

Asuka and Rei both looked down and reported to the medical team. Asuka, full of guilt for the pilot she had accidentally shot, and Rei, with her concern for her only friend, gave a last look to the fallen pilot and went to do the only thing he would want for himself; to make sure they were fine.

--

He must have been dreaming. He must have been, since no one, especially not him, could have such luck as to wake up to the sight of someone like her. Groggily, he opened both of his eyes and stared into the russet irises. The eyes stared back, glazed over with well suppressed tears. His heart wanted him to simply grab the girl and hold, to show his weakness in the face of danger and finding comfort in her touch-- but he would not show that weakness after he was defeated so horribly.

"Hey..." He said weakly.

The girl held in her tears and gasped at his voice. "H-Hey..."

He tried to sit up in his bed, but was stopped by her gentle pat on his shoulder. He looked up at her in confusion, but she shook her head. 'I guess she doesn't want me to move...' "Mayumi, how've... how have you been?"

She looked down at the sheets and let the tears fall on her turquoise skirt. Still, she wouldn't show her neediness. "I-... I-I've been good... D-Dr. Ak-Akagi says I'll be-- That I'll be fine..." She twisted the skirt's fabric between her fingers and sighed sadly before going. "How about you? Y-You doing good?"

He gave her the same tired smile she hated and loved all the same. "Not really. I'm really hungry."

She chocked out a laugh behind her tears and got up from her seat. "I-I'll go get something from the cafeteria." Before she could go, she felt his fingers wrap around her wrist. She couldn't look, so she stood there and stared at the tile flooring. "What is it?"

He pulled her closer to him, but she still wouldn't look at him. "Actually, if your not busy, I'd really like some of your food."

"B-But you've eaten it before... and it would take too long for me to--"

He grinned sheepishly at her, sat up, and said, "Don't worry, I can wait."

Not being able to withhold her feelings any longer, she threw her arms around his neck and let her tears fall onto him. He placed his head on her shoulder and pulled her closer, ignoring the numbness of his chest. He brushed her hair away from her glasses and kissed her forehead. She only cried more and tightened her hold, trying to keep him from disappearing from her. "Don't you ever do something so utterly stupid! If your gone... I don't know what I'll do...!"

Shinji peeled her off and looked at the tears behind her glasses. He took off her glasses and placed them on himself, smiling like an idiot, and seeing her slightly blurry image. "Don't worry. I'll be fine, it's you I'm worried about."

She sat on the bed and held his hand. "Shinji... Aiko told me what happened, or at least everything she saw... I thought you were dead..."

He rubbed the back of his head. "I can't die from just that. After all..." He looked towards the door that had opened wide and the short girl that stood there out of breath. "... I'm Aiko's invincible Shinji."

The short girl ran up to him as she usually did and jumped on top of him, hugging tighter than anyone would recommend in his condition. "A-Aiko! Your hurting me..."

Mayumi took her glasses from Shinji's face and put them back on herself. "I'll... I'll go make you some food at home," she looked at her sister, "I'm leaving you in charge, so make sure Shinji doesn't do anything stupid."

She nodded her head, but did nothing more than that.

Mayumi messed with her little sister's hair and wipe her tears away before leaving for her home. "I'll be back in a little while."

Aiko raised her head and smiled at the hospitalized pilot. "Shinji! I knew you wouldn't die!" She hugged him tighter still, but stopped as her sister's words sunk in. "She's going to go make you food!"

He scratched his cheek. "Y-Yeah. I said I'd like some of her food..." He rubbed the back of his head when Aiko slapped him upside of it. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Your in the hospital because of the angel, you don't need to let her food finish you off!"

He fell onto his bed and started laughing honestly, letting his lungs force air out of his raspy throat, "Ha-ha!" He sat back up and hugged the girl tightly, bringing out the rare blush he had grown attached to. "Thank you, Aiko. I really needed that."

The young girl closed her eyes and relaxed in his arms, the nostalgic feelings for her father melded into the exhausted arms of the young pilot and caused her to cradle into his bandaged chest. "Y-Your welcome..."

The door slid open and Asuka walked through into the room. She eyed the small girl in Shinji's arm and raised her eyebrow. "Is she in your pilot contract or something?" She heard a sharp yes from the girl who kept her eyes closed. "Really? And you called my Kaji a pedophile! Damn perverted midget."

Aiko did not move, but snuggled against the nervous boy and threw up her middle finger, causing the pilot's head match her hair. "Grr... if you weren't all over Shinji I'd pull you by your roots--" She stopped as the familiar hands rested on her shoulder.

"Now, now, no need to argue over the Casanova-in-training."

"Kaji!" She latched onto his arm and returned to her love-struck schoolgirl persona.

"Mr. Kaji...? Why are you here?"

"I'm here to take you home. Katsuragi sent me." The unshaven man turned to the girl latched onto Shinji's chest and grinned at him. "And her too."

--

"S-So you called Mayumi, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," dismissed the short girl, "I told her to come over here instead of the hospital when she's done making your poison." Aiko pushed Shinji to the middle of the couch and laid her head on his lap, letting her legs prop up on the couches arm. "What's there to watch on TV?"

Shinji looked at the girl and sighed. "Don't know-- just flip through the channels, I guess."

She did so. Amidst the flickering lights and random noises and explosions, Aiko dropped the remote and looked upward, staring Shinji's eyes as he looked back down. "You know, Shinji... Mayumi's not gonna like that your living with..." She pointed towards the redhead who ate the dinner Shinji prepared for her, and continued, "...her."

He placed his palm on her forehead and moved her bangs. "I know she won't, but Misato told me that she wanted to live here, and I couldn't say no. I mean, we're both pilots and friends." He looked at the girl who patted her flat stomach once she was done devouring the meal. "I think..."

Asuka looked over at the Third Child. "Don't act you like don't want me here! I would have been much happier at Kaji's place." She dumped the plate into the kitchen sink and sat next to the pilot. "Besides, without me, you'd a been melted by that giant spider."

He poked Aiko's cheeks and nose, purposely annoying her in a playful manner she was aware of. "Yeah, and without me you would have fallen in that volcano."

"Without me you would have gotten your ass kicked by the twin angels." She sipped from her can angrily.

"True... but you would have too."

She coughed on her drink and folded her arms. "Fine! And I'll buy you that lunch later so we can be even with what happened a few days ago."

Aiko rolled her eyes and looked at the redhead. "Lunch for splitting his Eva in half! You better give something more than lunch. My Shinji needs some of that as--" Her mouth was covered by 'her Shinji'. "Nhhd shme hmss!"

The flushed redhead stared down at the girl. "Where the hell do you learn all that crap!" She looked at the pilot and turned away. "Don't you start getting any weird thought!"

The doorknob jingled and opened slowly. Mayumi walked in with a bag in hand. She slid her shoes off, but stopped when she saw Asuka sitting close to her boyfriend with a flushed face and Aiko on his lap, her mouth covered and flicking off the redhead. "Wh-What...?"

"H-Hi, Mayumi." Shinji waved weakly with his free hand. "Welcome home?"

She blushed. "H-Home?"

"Yeah, your mom called me. She said that she would be busy for a few more days, and since Misato said it would be okay, you and Aiko can stay here."

She couldn't help but smile shyly as her heart began to sing and feet floated on air. But she didn't want to show it. "O-Oh, really? T-That's good..." She looked at the flushed redhead and her smile disappeared slightly. "Umm... your name is Soryu, right?"

Asuka opened her eyes and looked at the obviously inwardly deliriously happy girl. "Hmm? Yeah. Call me Asuka, though. I hate all that formality crap."

She wanted to sit down next to him, but she was there, and she wanted to push Aiko out of the way and lay down herself, but she couldn't. "So... are you here to stay too? Was your house destroyed by the angel, too?"

"No, no. I was in a hotel, but I've been living here with this idiot for the past few months. Ever since me and little Mr. Invincible stayed in that room for 5 days."

Mayumi inhaled sharply as the redhead's casual words were scorched into the back of her mind. 'L-L-Living here? 5 days in a room? Past months? My Shinji!' "L-Living here, you say?"

She crossed her legs and nudged the boy playfully, knowing exactly what she was doing. "Yeah. Me and pretty boy here have been living across from each other ever since Misato made us live in NERV in that tiny room for 5 days." She looked back up towards the bespectacled girl with sable hair, and said, "So, your his girlfriend right?"

She pushed her glasses back up. "Y-Yes, Shinji's my boyfriend."

Asuka smirked and patted the blushing Shinji on his head. "Well, since Misato left me in charge of our worn-out little Shinji, I guess I'll have to make sure he's not doing anything strenuous. So I'm afraid that your sleeping with me in my room."

Mayumi looked at Shinji and he sighed sadly. "She's in charge..."

Aiko lifted her head and hugged 'her invincible Shinji'. "I get to sleep with Shinji in his room!"

Mayumi gave her sister the death glare, but Shinji smiled at her. "Don't worry, Mayumi. I don't want her sleeping alone in the living room, and I need to sleep on the floor 'cause my back hurts. So she can just sleep on my bed."

She looked in her boyfriends sincere eyes and sighed in defeat. "O-Okay..."

"Yay!"

--

**Pervert...**

**Oh, shut-up. You know I was well intentioned.**

**Yeah, your intentions.**

**Love ya!  
**

**Shut-up and go on...**

--

"So, why'd you pick Shinji for your boyfriend?"

The question wasn't entirely unexpected, but at the hour of night it seemed strange to ask now. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I want Shinji as my boyfriend?"

The redhead shrugged her head. "Just wanted to know. He doesn't seem all that bright, and I've seen much more attractive boys at school-- though they pale in comparison to my Kaji."

Mayumi stared at the ceiling and contemplated her question. "Well, he is smart. He's just been so busy with piloting that he can't find the time to study. I've even taken him to the library with me so I can help him catch up on a few things. And h-he is attractive. He's very kind to me and my sister... and he saved me..."

Asuka turned in her bed and looked down at the girl curiously. "Saved you? How?"

"I was the one who got inside of his entry plug when an angel came-- the one that had glowing tentacles --and he saved me."

"Oh, yeah! I saw that footage, but I didn't realize it was you... but so what? Every time we get in the Evas we save people."

"I know that, it's just... I can't exactly say how I feel about him. He's really sweet, and shy. And the way he acts with Aiko..."

"The midget?"

Mayumi giggled at the girl's bluntness. "Yeah, she hates it when you mention her height. I think he's the nicest person I've ever met. He's so selfless when it comes to me and Aiko it almost makes me mad sometimes... Shinji always tries his hardest to make us happy, I can't understand why, but he does. I think that... I don't know..."

Asuka smirked at the girl's stereotypical teenage predicament. "Love him? Don't be stupid. Your too young to be in actual love with anyone. Probably just a crush."

The girl stared at the ceiling again. "No, I know it's more than that. I guess I did carried away though... Hey, Asuka?"

"Yeah?"

"You said that you were living with Shinji for 5 days..."

The redhead laughed. "Don't get any weird ideas. We were training so we could defeat an angel. Nothing happened-- nothing could happen. I have standards, you know."

Mayumi fidgeted on the floor, wanting to say something to defend her boyfriend but not finding the courage in herself to do so. "I... I-Is your living with him a permanent thing?"

"Unfortunately, it seems to be permanent. Or at least until we beat all of the angels."

"H-How do you know when they're all dead?"

Asuka paused before answering. She stared at the lazily spinning fan and found it's movement almost memorizing. "Hmm? I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess."

--

_'I can die now...? I don't want to die... but I guess it's okay. Rei and Asuka can handle the rest.' _

_He turned to see Aiko calling him. His heart cracked under her frail words, and chose to take the brunt of the angel's wrath instead of the girl's tears; all the while, Taini's words echoing in his mind. 'She already lost her father once.' "She already lost him once..."_

_He went against the G force pressing against him and grabbed the controls. 'Not yet...'_

He awoke in a cold sweat, his heart throbbing lightly against his rib cage, and with Aiko curled up near him, her head on his still bandaged chest while she snored lightly. He had been dreaming of the self-revealing phantasmagoria that had entered his mind while he laid inside of Unit-01 and the angel, but it all paled in comparison when he looked at her sleeping figure; so he sighed happily.

'You were suppose to sleep on my bed, not on me...'

Shinji was far too tired to pick her up and carry her to his bed, so he rested his head back down on the floor and stared at the ceiling. "She thinks of me like a father...? I wouldn't make a good father. I'm too insecure for something like that." He stroked the girl's hair and received a childish purr as thanks. "But, I'll make sure to not die-- I just hate it when you cry..."

He went back to sleep with the child smiling sadly next to him.

-

The twelve monoliths lit up in the dark and otherwise empty room. It was the time to finally take into account the variables in SEELE's plans, but it would be easy to address. It was always easy to control the world and hide secrets when you advertised it so openly. The secret society that was SEELE had their grips all over the Earth, taking care of a few variables should be easy, they thought collectively.

They've worked in shadows throughout the ages, showing their eyes all over the world, secretly watching and controlling the unsuspecting people of the world, because they were blind, dumb, and deaf to truth, and unworthy of it; but their proof was only in their words and presumptions of man.

"The child has for the second time activated the core inside of her."

"The Super Solenoid Engine that was to be salvaged from the 4th angel has been destroyed and Unit-04 has been completed. This does not follow our scenario."

"Two horsemen have fallen, but the next two are to come and will bring NERV to it's knees."

"Do not underestimate NERV. Although Ikari has yet to discover what the two horsemen were, he controls three Evangelions."

"But in turn, we hold his leash."

"He may have already been aware of that. In any case, the JSSDF has begun the reconstruction of the Jet Alone and the Tridents have been completed. In order to keep appearances and lower NERV's defense budget, we must deliver Unit-04 to them, but they must not obtain more than a class-3 potential pilot."

"707 has many class-3 potential pilots, 13 class-2, and the three current pilots are the only class-1 pilots that have been found thus far."

"No, as long as the girl still retains the angel's core, there is one more class-1 pilot. If we were to get ours hands on it, then she'd lose such potential."

"I'm sure Ikari is well-aware of this. He will not deliver us this girl and has probably already begun preparations for her to pilot Unit-03 or 04."

"Give them the Evangelions until they become a nuisance-- but do not let them keep the girl."

"Should we have the UN or JSSDF take siege of Tokyo-3?"

"No, we'd give ourselves away to openly. Have our personal army obtain the angel girl. Send our mercenaries to hold siege of NERV, but do not harm the pilots of Units-00 to 02 or the angel girl."

A thirteenth shaped in the middle of the twelve monoliths, a glowing pyramid illuminated the dark room with an eerie black light. "Commence the operation and do not fail. If instrumentality is not achieved, then we will shape this world as we see fit."

--

End Catalyst. Story to be continued.

--

Author's Notes: Welcome to the ending of Catalyst.

Next chapter, Land of the Midnight Sun, will introduce the world outside of Tokyo-3. Book 2 will have a lot happening in SEELE and their world order and Kaji. Though an obvious reason for the title 'Catalyst' is for Mayumi's affect on our young pilot, I was also speaking about his mental development. (I think "Fuck the system" would have been too... forward of a title; and would have lost the dual meaning.) Book 3, the final book, will be Revolution.

How about some movie/script style scenes in random order for the sake of ending my boredom?

**-Mana:** "So... you never told me-- why are you here anyway?"

**-Shinji:** "I'm here to keep a promise I made when I was younger..."

**-Mana:** "Oh... to her, right? Is... is that why you helped me?"

**-Shinji:** "Part of the reason. But, also because I consider you a part of my family."

**-Mana:** "Family? I thought you said that..."

**-Shinji:** "I once met a girl that I was too young to know I loved-- very jealous and usually had a book on her.

_-Mayumi: "Where is she? Who took her!"_

**-Shinji:** "Had a little sister that was sometimes annoying."

_-Aiko: "You told me that you'd never let anything happen to me..."_

**-Shinji:** "Her mother was sophisticated and well-spoken and liked to talk to me about everything and nothing."

_-Taini: "Back then... I was forced to do something that even now makes me want to cry my eyes out..."_

**-Shinji:** "A pale girl that was far too reserved and a redhead who loved to annoy me."

_-Rei: "Shinji, please do not leave me again..."_

_-Asuka: "What do you mean she's a pilot!"_

**-Shinji:** "A guardian who teased me too much and three other friends that did the same when they could."

_-Misato: "Oh my God... has it broken the troposphere border?"_

_-Kensuke: "I... I didn't know it would be like this..."_

_-Touji: "I'm suppose ta make sure you don't do somethin' that would put ya in danger."_

_-Hikari: "How could he just leave like that...?"_

**-Shinji:** "A young woman who took away my boredom when I sat in those endless tests."

_-Maya: "Unit-01 has absorbed the S2 engine! Synchronization has risen past 400!"_

**-Shinji:** "A womanizing father figure who loved to not shave and gave me advice on women."

_-Kaji: "I had a brother once..."_

**-Shinji:** "A now, I have you."

**-Mana:** "Me?"

**-Shinji:** "Yes, you, a girl who has helped me realize that, even if everything is taken from me, I can still go on, because they would want me to. Since, I had a family once..."

Ta-da...

P.S. - "Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." - Julius Ceasar.

Damn the Illuminati and freemasons. Viva la revolucion!

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

_ XxRagnarokxX88 _


End file.
